President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, beginning the process of designating various chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations. The order specifically targets the Islamist group’s branches in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan.
The Muslim Brotherhood “has developed into a transnational network with chapters across the Middle East and beyond,” the Executive Order said, noting that the group’s “chapters in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, United States citizens, and United States interests.”
The Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928, has influenced Islamic terrorist groups and movements across the world. Its chapters, based in Muslim and Western countries, dream of toppling the existing governments and imposing Islamic law, or Sharia.
Islamic State (ISIS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri both got their ideological training as members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Palestinian Islamic terror group Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The move banning the Islamist group is in keeping with the policies of the last Trump administration, Reuters reports:
Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to submit a report on whether to designate any Muslim Brotherhood chapters, such as those in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan, according to a White House fact sheet.It orders the secretaries to move forward with any designations within 45 days of the report.The Trump administration has accused Muslim Brotherhood factions in those countries of supporting or encouraging violent attacks against Israel and U.S. partners, or of providing material support to Palestinian militant group Hamas.”President Trump is confronting the Muslim Brotherhood’s transnational network, which fuels terrorism and destabilization campaigns against U.S. interests and allies in the Middle East,” according to the fact sheet.Republicans and right-wing voices have long advocated for and considered terrorist designations for the Muslim Brotherhood.The Republican president mounted a similar effort during his first term. Months after his second term began, Rubio said the Trump administration was working to designate the movement as a terrorist organization.
Monday’s Executive Order notably leaves out the Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Qatar, Turkey, and Syria — countries where the group or its jihadist ideology holds sway over the ruling regimes. After Qatar, Turkey has emerged as the second biggest backer and haven for Hamas terrorists.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who has long led the fight in Congress and the Senate against the creeping influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S., welcomed President Trump’s executive order. “I applaud President Trump for his leadership in advancing and announcing today’s Executive Order, which is critical to American national security and to the safety of Americans,” Sen. Cruz said in a statement.
“This battle has been over a decade in the making, and it faced fierce resistance from supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood abroad and from deeply embedded bureaucrats across the U.S. government,” he added. “The Muslim Brotherhood and its branches encourage, facilitate, and provide resources for conducting jihadist terrorism across the world. They are committed to overthrowing the United States and the governments of our allies.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY