Trump takes steps to designate Muslim Brotherhood associates as terrorist teams

President Trump on Monday referred to as for the U.S. to weigh labeling some Center Japanese associates of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist teams, taking goal on the controversial Islamist motion.

In an government order, the president directed his administration to contemplate whether or not to designate Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan or elsewhere as overseas terrorist organizations. He gave Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 30 days to submit a report, and 45 days after that to take motion.

The order claimed the three international locations’ Muslim Brotherhood associates “interact in or facilitate and assist violence and destabilization campaigns.” 

It accused the army wing of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Lebanese chapter of serving to launch rockets at Israel after the terrorist assault on Oct, 7, 2023, and alleged a pacesetter of the Egyptian chapter “inspired violent assaults in opposition to U.S. companions” after the assault.

The White Home additionally stated members of the Jordanian chapter have “lengthy supplied materials assist to the militant wing of Hamas,” itself a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot and a U.S.-designated overseas terrorist group.

If the teams are designated as overseas terrorist organizations, it would grow to be unlawful beneath U.S. regulation to knowingly present funding or different materials assist to them. The designation may result in journey bans in opposition to members or the freezing of funds held in U.S. banks.

Based in Egypt virtually a century in the past, the Muslim Brotherhood is an influential political motion in a lot of the Center East. The chief of a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated political social gathering, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president of Egypt in 2012 after the autumn of dictator Hosni Mubarak, although Morsi was ousted by the army the next 12 months.

Some Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Egypt and elsewhere have renounced violence. However the group has lengthy been controversial, with critics — together with U.S. allies — saying some affiliated teams have engaged in violence or espoused extremist views. Egypt’s army authorities formally banned the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, and Jordan banned the group earlier this 12 months.

“President Trump is confronting the Muslim Brotherhood’s transnational community, which fuels terrorism and destabilization campaigns in opposition to U.S. pursuits and allies within the Center East,” the White Home stated in a reality sheet Monday.

Mr. Trump’s order comes a few week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group and banned it from shopping for land. Abbott made the same transfer towards the Council on American-Islamic Relations, drawing a lawsuit from the civil rights group.

The president has used the chief energy to designate teams as terrorist organizations broadly. 

His administration labeled a number of Latin American drug cartels as overseas terrorist teams earlier this 12 months, and lately utilized the designation to Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles, because the administration places extra stress on the Venezuelan authorities and President Nicolás Maduro. Some analysts say it isn’t a centralized drug cartel within the conventional sense, however is as an alternative a loosely outlined community of presidency officers accused of hyperlinks to organized crime and drug trafficking.

The administration earlier this 12 months additionally designated 4 European teams that it stated are affiliated with antifa. Mr. Trump has labeled antifa as a home terror group, although there is not a proper system for designating U.S.-based terror teams, and antifa often refers to a unfastened assortment of left-wing activists fairly than a single group with centralized management.

Mr. Trump additionally thought-about labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror group in his first time period.