The White House cited the group’s alleged support for Hamas and accused it of waging a campaign against U.S. interests and allies.
Published November 24, 2025
WASHINGTON, DC – US President Donald Trump has ordered his aides to begin the process of labeling Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as “terrorist” organizations due to their alleged support for the Palestinian group Hamas.
President Trump issued the executive order on Monday as the U.S. government ramps up its crackdown on Israel’s enemies in the region.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
The decree accused Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders of providing “material support” to Hamas and the group’s Lebanese branch, known as al-Jamaa al-Islam, which has sided with Hamas and Hezbollah in the war against Israel.
It also claimed that Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders “called for violent attacks against U.S. partners and interests” during Israel’s war in Gaza. But it wasn’t clear what the White House was referring to. The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt and largely driven underground.
“President Trump is confronting the Muslim Brotherhood’s transnational network that fuels a campaign of terror and destabilization against U.S. interests and allies in the Middle East,” the White House said.
President Trump’s order directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the U.S. Director of Intelligence, to prepare a report on the designation within 30 days.
The official “foreign terrorist organization” label will then be formally applied to Muslim Brotherhood branches within 45 days of the report.
This process is usually formal and designation may occur sooner. The decree also provides the possibility of blacklisting other Muslim Brotherhood branches.
The White House is also pushing to classify these groups as “designated global terrorists.”
The designation makes it illegal to provide material support to the group. Current and former members will also be largely barred from entering the United States, and economic sanctions could limit their sources of income.
Long-standing demands of right-wing activists
Founded in 1928 by Egyptian Islamic scholar Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood has factions and branches across the Middle East in the form of political parties and social organizations.
Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated parties across the Middle East are participating in elections and expressing their commitment to peaceful political participation.
However, the group has been outlawed by several countries in the region.
Blacklisting the Muslim Brotherhood has been a long-standing demand of right-wing activists in the United States.
But critics say the measures could further enable authoritarianism and a crackdown on free political expression in the Middle East.
The legislation could also be used to target Muslim-American activists for alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or donations to charities affiliated with the Brotherhood.
Right-wing groups have long pushed to delegitimize Muslim-American groups, making baseless accusations of their ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the designation should not affect Muslim-American advocacy and charity organizations.
“The American Islamic organization is strong,” Awad told Al Jazeera. “They are based in the United States. Relief organizations serve millions of people overseas. We hope this does not affect their operations.”
But he said anti-Muslim activists are trying to spread a “conspiracy theory that all Islamic organizations in the United States are vanguards of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Recently, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated both the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as “foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.”
In response, CAIR filed a lawsuit against the governor’s office.
