Trump pushes assessment to declare Muslim Brotherhood subdivisions terrorists

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a order executive order directing the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to initiate a formal process to determine whether certain Muslim Brotherhood groups should be classified as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). The move marks one of his Administration's most forceful steps to confront the influence of this Islamist network in the Middle East.

The order requires both departments—in coordination with the Attorney General's Office and the Directorate of National Intelligence—to prepare a report assessing the role of groups located in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan, and their possible relationship to violent activities affecting the security of the United States and its allies.

A process to address transnational threats

According to the document signed at the White House, the purpose of the order is to activate a mechanism to review, on a case-by-case basis, whether Muslim Brotherhood subdivisions meet the legal criteria for designation as FTOs under the Immigration and Nationality Act, or as SDGTs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Executive Order 13224.

The White House contends that several regional branches engage in or facilitate campaigns of violence and destabilization that put U.S. citizens and strategic partners in the region at risk. The network founded in Egypt in 1928 has evolved, according to the document, into a transnational structure with a presence in multiple countries in the Middle East.