US President Donald Trump waves as he walks from Marine One to the White House after landing on the South Lawn in Washington, DC, on November 22, 2025. AFP
Trump signed the order on Monday, directing the State and Treasury Departments to assess whether specific chapters of the group meet the criteria for designation.
The administration says the move is part of its broader effort to counter extremist networks in the Middle East. It follows a decision earlier this month by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, to classify the organization as a terrorist group at the state level.
The step has exposed divisions among Democrats.
Five Democratic members of the House of Representatives have already co-sponsored the “Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025,” introduced by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, both Republicans.
One of the Democratic co-sponsors, Representative Jared Moskowitz of Florida, said: “The Muslim Brotherhood has a documented history of promoting terrorism against the United States, our allies, and our society. The US government has to have the authority to crack down on the serious threats posed by this group as well.”
The other Democratic backers come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, and New York.
Although Trump’s order does not require a congressional vote, bipartisan support could bolster the measure politically, especially after Texas also designated the group and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations. Abbott claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR seek “to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world.’”
The order comes as Republicans hold a slim majority in the House—219 seats to the Democrats’ 213, with three seats vacant—while Democrats retain control of the Senate with 53 seats.
Moves to curb the group are not limited to the United States. In May, French President Emmanuel Macron directed his government to prepare measures to counter what he described as the influence and spread of the Muslim Brotherhood in France.
Procedures under the executive order
Signed on 24 November, the order instructs the secretaries of state and treasury, in consultation with the attorney general and the director of national intelligence, to examine whether chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan should be designated as terrorist organizations.
According to a White House fact sheet, the officials must submit a report within 45 days recommending whether such designations are warranted. If they conclude that they are, the agencies would then act under 8 U.S.C. 1189, 50 U.S.C. 1702, and Executive Order 13224, allowing the US government to target the groups’ financial networks and restrict their operations.
The administration says the aim is to “eliminate the designated chapters’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and end any threat such chapters pose to US nationals and the national security of the United States.”
The White House framed the measure as consistent with other steps taken by the administration in 2025, including beginning the designation process for Yemen’s Houthis, labelling eight drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and tightening border restrictions on travellers from countries the administration links to terrorism or instability.
Regional implications
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, evolved into a pan-Islamist movement with branches across the Middle East.
Governments in the region have long differed in their approach to the group, from legal recognition and participation in political life to outright bans and extensive security crackdowns.
Any US decision to formally designate Brotherhood chapters could therefore prompt varied responses across the region and may affect Washington’s relations with several Arab and Muslim capitals.
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