Trump launches process aimed at potentially sanctioning Muslim Brotherhood

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday beginning the process of potentially designating certain country chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terror organizations.

The directive stopped short of an actual designation, which will take more time, given that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a centralized organization with an international headquarters. Rather, chapters vary in ideology and politics depending on the country in which they are based.

The executive order directs US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to submit a joint report within 30 days on whether to designate specific chapters, such as the ones in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).

If the report concludes that such designations are warranted, the two secretaries will have 45 days to levy the sanctions, the executive order says.

“The order’s ultimate aim is to eliminate the designated chapters’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and end any threat such chapters pose to US nationals and the national security of the United States,” read a statement from the White House.

The White House claimed that the Lebanese wing of the Muslim Brotherhood helped terror groups launch multiple rocket attacks targeting Israel, while a senior member of the Egypt wing encouraged attacks against US allies in the Middle East hours after Hamas’s October 7 attack. Hamas began as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

???? President Donald J. Trump just signed an Executive Order directing @SecRubio and @SecScottBessent to begin the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

Here is the text of…

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— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 24, 2025

The White House asserted that the Jordanian wing of the Brotherhood has also long provided support to the military wing of Hamas, which the US has already designated as an FTO. The Hashemite kingdom itself outlawed the local Muslim Brotherhood chapter earlier this year.

Notably, the executive order makes no mention of Qatar and Turkey, which both have had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, but have also become close allies of the administration. Both countries have hosted exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders, albeit with the knowledge and sometimes urging of the US.

A wide range of Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations and charities operate in Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party shares ideological affinities with the Brotherhood, even though the latter remains formally separate.

Qatar has also historically been seen as a major backer of Muslim Brotherhood ideology via its diplomatic efforts and the media outlets that the government funds. However, there is no formal Muslim Brotherhood chapter in Qatar, and the organization’s members have faced limitations in recent years inside the country.

It’s unclear how stridently the order will be upheld, even if specific chapters are designated.

In February, Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court over its efforts to prosecute Israeli and US officials. However, only three Palestinian human rights organizations were sanctioned for cooperating with those cases against Jerusalem and Washington, even though a wide range of organizations across the globe are believed to have assisted in the same effort.

TRUMP VOWS TO DESIGNATE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. pic.twitter.com/Zwt61sRRuI

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 24, 2025

Regardless, the sanctioning of the Muslim Brotherhood will likely have a chilling effect on any organization considering doing business with local chapters around the globe who will think twice about the legal ramifications of such cooperation.

Earlier Monday, the White House’s social media account on X posted, “TRUMP VOWS TO DESIGNATE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” above a screenshot of an identically worded New York Post headline, which wasn’t in all-caps.

On Sunday, the conservative outlet Just the News quoted Trump as having said in an interview that the move would “be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,” and that “final documents are being drawn” up.

Sunday’s report was quickly welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who indicated that he could follow suit. Netanyahu’s declaration was taken as a hint that he could ban the Islamist Ra’am party in Israel, which has denied links with the Muslim Brotherhood and decried the premier’s statement.

Netanyahu sought to bring Ra’am into his coalition several years ago before talks broke down and the party, led by Mansour Abbas, decided to join the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021.

Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood later established itself as the main Islamist opposition movement in Egypt, spread regionally with ardent offshoots from Tunisia to Turkey, and eventually, worldwide, with the terrorist group Hamas getting its start as the organization’s Palestinian branch.

After the 2013 military overthrow of the elected Brotherhood Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, the Islamist group was banned and deemed a terror group. The group is also banned in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Syria and Jordan.

Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.

“This bans them from buying or acquiring land in Texas and authorizes the Attorney General to sue to shut them down,” Abbott said on X.

CAIR is one of the most prominent Muslim groups in the US. Abbott shared a proclamation that linked the designation to CAIR’s support for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the group’s past ties to a Hamas network in the US, and other issues.

Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.