President Trump’s recent executive order, which directs the State and Treasury departments to consider terrorism designations for specific Muslim Brotherhood factions, signifies a major change in U.S. policy towards the group in recent decades.
The order, signed on Nov. 24, initiates the first formal assessment of Brotherhood affiliates in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon under U.S. designation laws. It also reframes how Washington deals with Islamist movements that have both political and militant components.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lauded the action, deeming it vital for national security. He asserted that the Muslim Brotherhood and its associated groups “encourage, facilitate and provide resources for conducting jihadist terrorism across the world,” and urged Congress to pass his Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025.
The U.S. government has long debated whether the Brotherhood is a cohesive global entity or a decentralized network of national chapters with varying objectives and degrees of militancy. This disagreement hindered previous attempts to designate the group. The current order sidesteps this debate by instructing federal agencies to examine individual chapters that analysts believe already meet the legal requirements.
Mariam Wahba, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated that the directive “replaces years of debate with concrete action” and compels U.S. agencies to evaluate Brotherhood entities that operate as “real organizations with leadership structures, financing channels and documented ties to terrorist groups.” She added that the order “treats Islamist actors according to their behavior, not their branding.”
In Egypt, the Brotherhood has been outlawed for several years. Egypt banned it in 2013, accusing the movement of inciting radicalization and attempting to destabilize state institutions. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates followed suit soon after, declaring it a direct threat to national security. Bahrain issued similar conclusions. Jordan disbanded its local chapter this year following arrests related to illegal weapons activity. Austria has also taken legal measures against Brotherhood-linked networks as part of its counter-extremism strategy.
Officials in these countries claim that the Brotherhood employs a combination of religious teachings, political activism, charitable organizations, and media outlets to influence public opinion and challenge governmental authority.
In Western nations, the Brotherhood operates with significantly more freedom. In the United States, organizations linked to the Brotherhood operate through charities, advocacy groups, mosques, student organizations, and community associations. This openness has generated concerns among counterterrorism officials, especially after a U.S. federal investigation in the early 2000s revealed an internal Brotherhood memo outlining its work in America as a long-term strategy to influence and weaken Western institutions from within.
A French parliamentary-commissioned report earlier this year highlighted the Brotherhood’s influence in the country, but Paris has not yet officially imposed a ban.
According to research by the Mind Israel think tank, the document reflects the Brotherhood’s belief in “” through education, welfare networks and media.
The movement was established in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt following the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Experts say the Brotherhood promoted Islam as the solution to contemporary political crises and relied on outreach, services, and media to broaden its support base. Influential figures like Sayyid Qutb later inspired jihadist movements such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
While the Brotherhood historically maintained a symbolic “general guide” in Egypt, the movement now functions as a decentralized network spanning the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. Wahba pointed out that this fragmentation explains why previous U.S. attempts to implement a broad designation failed. Instead, Trump’s order mirrors the approach used when the United States designated Hamas, the Brotherhood’s Gaza branch, in 1997: target the elements “that engage in violence, not the ideology itself.”
The decision also occurs amidst increasing Israeli concern regarding a revitalized Islamist bloc supported by Turkey and Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly commended Trump’s action, describing the Muslim Brotherhood as “an organization that threatens stability throughout the Middle East and beyond,” and stated that Israel intends to expand its own restrictions.
Avner Golov, vice president of Mind Israel, suggested that the United States should combine the new review process with measures to counter foreign influence in American academia, tie arms deals to behavioral changes, and close loopholes exploited by extremist-linked organizations.
As the State and Treasury departments begin compiling evidentiary files, officials state that the goal is not a comprehensive ban, but a focused legal process based on demonstrable links to terrorism. Analysts suggest that the outcomes could determine how the United States addresses a movement outlawed across the Middle East yet remains active across Western societies.