President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to begin the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.
His order directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, consulting with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, to submit a report on whether to designate any Muslim Brotherhood chapters, such as those in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan, as FTOs under federal statute.
The order also mandates Rubio and Bessent to take action within 45 days after the report to designate chapters as FTOs and SDGTs, if appropriate.
His order adds to remarks he made on Sunday, in which he said that he would sign an executive order to designate the group as an FTO in the coming months.
“It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,” Trump stated. “Final documents are being drawn.”
The president’s remarks against the organization have already garnered international attention. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the president’s remarks on Sunday.
“On this occasion, I also want to commend President @realDonaldTrump on his decision to outlaw and designate the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ organisation as a terrorist organisation,” Netanyahu said on X. “This is an organization that endangers stability throughout the Middle East and beyond the Middle East.”
The prime minister added that Israel will follow the president’s footsteps and designate the organization as a terrorist hub as well. “Therefore, the State of Israel has already outlawed part of the organization, and we are working to complete this action soon,” he wrote.
Trump’s call follows the pressure put on him by American lawmakers, who have long criticized the organization for its support of the controversial sharia. It is also known for its oppression of women, violations of the U.S. Constitution, persecution of followers of other religions, and documented ties to designated terrorist groups such as Hamas.
A bipartisan coalition of legislators in both chambers of Congress introduced legislation in July to designate the organization as an FTO.
The Senate version of the bill, spearheaded by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), has attracted nine Republican and one Democratic co-sponsors. The bill’s House companion has garnered 19 co-sponsors, including four Democrats.
Prior to the bill, individual members of Congress urged the president to open an investigation into the group.
“I’m urging the President to conduct a comprehensive investigation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) wrote on June 3. “Its history of promoting extremist ideologies and terrorist activities through affiliates like Hamas threatens our national & global security.”
Other members of Trump’s Cabinet, such as Rubio, hinted at the designation in August.
“Obviously, there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them,” Rubio stated, adding that the State Department needed to go through a lengthy “process which I didn’t fully appreciate until I came into this job.”
Individual states, such as Texas, have already taken initiative and begun to push back against the Muslim Brotherhood.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) led Texas in becoming the first state in the nation to designate the organization as an FTO on Nov. 18.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott stated. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and [the Center for American Islamic Relations] to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.”
ABBOTT DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN ANTI-SHARIA PUSH
“These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas,” the governor added.
The designation permitted state authorities to increase surveillance on the organizations and their affiliates, and permanently banned them from purchasing or acquiring land in the state.