Trump moves to sanction some Muslim Brotherhood chapters
US President Donald Trump has instructed officials to examine whether some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as terrorist groups; this was a move that would target the group with economic and travel sanctions.
Monday’s executive order calls for his top aides to produce a report investigating whether their affiliates in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan should be listed as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.
The order cites the groups’ alleged ties to Hamas and “destabilization campaigns that harm their territory, U.S. citizens, and U.S. interests.”
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded nearly 100 years ago, is banned in Jordan and Egypt.
The executive order directs U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to consult with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and prepare a report within 30 days.
US officials will then be given 45 days to impose sanctions if warranted.
This appointment, which Trump can order at any time, would make it illegal to provide support to the group. This would also lead to economic sanctions and a ban on its members from entering the United States.
“President Trump is confronting the transnational network of the Muslim Brotherhood, which fuels terrorism and destabilization campaigns against US interests and allies in the Middle East,” the White House said in a statement.
Last week, the governor of Texas declared the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization and a transnational criminal organization.
The Texas order gives the same status to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim advocacy group in the United States, and blocks both groups from purchasing land in the state.
The Brotherhood was founded in Egypt almost 100 years ago and has local chapters around the world. The ideology of each chapter is different, and one of their goals is to create a state governed by Islamic law, or Sharia.
Trump considered designating the group as a terrorist organization during his first term after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. It is illegal in Egypt and many Arab countries where their governments see it as a threat.
In April, Jordan banned the group after arresting its members on suspicion of planning rocket and drone attacks.
