During an interview Sunday with Just the News, President Donald Trump revealed that his administration plans to label the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, a step that many national security experts have pushed for because of the group’s long record of stoking instability and fostering radicalization among young Muslims.
Trump said the action will come with strong enforcement. “It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,” Trump said. “Final documents are being drawn.”
His remarks signal a significant shift that promises to reshape how the United States confronts Islamist movements linked to regional chaos.
The president's announcement came just days after Just the News published a long expose on the Muslim Brotherhood's activities and growing concerns inside the Trump administration. Trump has been considering the move since his first administration.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist group founded nearly a century ago in Egypt but with chapters, parties, and affiliated movements around the world.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week designated the MB and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as being “foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.” CAIR has denied the label and sued the Texas government. According to Politico, "CAIR says that proclamation, which bars its members from buying land in Texas, violates its members’ constitutional property and free speech rights."
There has been bipartisan support for the administration to take a tougher stance on the Muslim Brotherhood. Republicans pressed the State Department to move forward, and a handful of Democrats also backed the effort. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the matter in August, he outlined the challenge facing his department. He said the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization was “in the works.” He explained that analysts evaluated each branch and affiliate separately, which created a lengthy, detailed process.
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Several countries in the Middle East have already cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt and Jordan banned it outright, while Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain designated it a terrorist organization. The group pushed back during Trump’s first term, insisting in 2019 that “we will remain […] steadfast in our work in accordance with our moderate and peaceful thinking in what we believe to be right, for honest and constructive cooperation, to serve the communities in which we live and humanity as a whole.”
"The Muslim Brotherhood will remain stronger — through God's grace and power — than any decision,” the Muslim Brotherhood said at that time.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations last week, citing their global support for terrorism and efforts to impose Sharia law. Abbott stated these groups are barred from acquiring property in Texas, citing the fact that Muslim Brotherhood branches have been restricted or banned in other countries for terrorism and destabilization.
CAIR pushed back against the move, predictably accusing Abbott of stoking anti-Muslim sentiment and spreading false claims, framing the move as an attack on American Muslims critical of Israel.
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