US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he intends to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, signalling a major escalation in Washington’s stance toward the Islamist movement.
In an interview with conservative outlet Just the News, Trump said the move would be framed “in the strongest possible terms” and that final paperwork was being prepared.
The announcement follows a lengthy investigation by Just the News into the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities and revives a debate that has surfaced repeatedly since Trump first entered the White House.
Founded in Egypt nearly a century ago, the Muslim Brotherhood has grown into a transnational movement with affiliated parties and groups across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and beyond.
At the state level, some US Republicans have already taken unilateral steps. Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently designated both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as “foreign terrorist” and “transnational criminal” organizations, a move that bars them from owning land in Texas and opens the door to legal action against them. CAIR has challenged the designation in court, denying all terrorism allegations and arguing that the decision violates its constitutional rights.
On Capitol Hill, a bloc of Republicans in both the House and Senate – joined by some Democrats – has long backed branding the Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously said the matter is “under way”, stressing that any formal designation must navigate complex legal reviews because of the Brotherhood’s many branches and loosely linked entities.
Several US partners in the region have already taken a harder line. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have all listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and outlawed many of its activities.
The Brotherhood has consistently rejected such labels. During Trump’s first term in 2019, it said it would remain committed to “peaceful” political and social work in the societies where it operates.
In a more recent statement, the group vowed it would “continue to exist – by the power and grace of God – regardless of any decision,” and reiterated its historic slogan: “God is our goal, the Prophet our example, the Qur’an our constitution, jihad our path, and death for the sake of God our highest aspiration.”
