United States President, Donald Trump, on Monday, signed an executive order initiating the process to designate specific chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political organization, as foreign terrorist entities.
The order specifically named chapters in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan.
According to the directive, these branches “engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, United States citizens, and United States interests.”
Founded in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is a pan-Islamist group that spread throughout the Arab world.
Its founder, Egyptian educator Hassan al-Banna, argued that reviving Islamic principles within society could help the Muslim world resist Western colonialism.
The US designation as a foreign “terrorist” organization would enable Washington to impose punitive measures, including freezing any assets the group holds in the United States and barring its members from entering the country.
The responsibility now falls on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to finalize the process of outlawing the chapters cited in the President’s order.
Some countries have already banned the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Jordan, for instance, prohibited the group in April of this year, accusing it of stockpiling weapons and plotting to destabilize the kingdom.
Despite the 2020 ruling by Jordan’s highest court to dissolve the group, the Muslim Brotherhood remained popular and continued operating, with authorities often overlooking its activities.
In Egypt, the Brotherhood has been banned since 2013 following the military overthrow of then-president Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader.
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the coup and has governed Egypt since, has cultivated a strong alliance with Washington.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon welcomed the US move in a post on X, stating, “This is an important decision not only for the State of Israel but also for neighboring Arab countries that have suffered from Muslim Brotherhood terrorism for decades.”
Earlier in 2025, in May, French President Emmanuel Macron directed his government to develop proposals aimed at countering the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence and presence in France.
