US President Donald Trump has ordered officials to consider whether to designate some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups. The move will subject the group to economic and travel sanctions.
His executive order on Monday called on his top aides to prepare an investigation report into whether affiliates in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan should be included on the list of foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.
The order cites the groups' alleged ties to Hamas and “campaigns of destabilization that harm their own regions, United States citizens and United States interests.”
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded nearly 100 years ago, is banned in Jordan and Egypt.
The executive order directs 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.
It then gives U.S. officials 45 days to impose sanctions if they are deemed warranted.
The designation, which Trump could order at any time, would make it illegal to support the group. It would also result in economic sanctions and a ban on its members from entering the United States.
“President Trump is standing up to the transnational Muslim Brotherhood network that is fomenting terrorism and campaigns of destabilization against U.S. interests and its 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 also grants the same status to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim advocacy group in the US, and bars 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. Each chapter differs in ideology, and one of its goals is to create a state governed by Islamic law or Sharia law.
Trump considered designating the group a terrorist organization during his first term after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi. It is outlawed in Egypt and a number of Arab countries whose governments see it as a threat.
Jordan banned the group in April after its members were arrested on suspicion of planning missile and drone attacks.
