U.S. Poised to Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization, Trump Says.
The United States is preparing to formally label the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, President Donald Trump told the news outlet Just the News, in a move that would align Washington with a growing list of countries that have outlawed the region’s most influential Islamist movement.
“It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,” Trump said, adding that the “final documents are being drawn.”
If enacted, the decision would place the Brotherhood—founded nearly a century ago as a grassroots Islamic revival movement—among groups subject to some of the U.S. government’s most sweeping sanctions.
The announcement follows Jordan’s decision earlier this year to outlaw the organization and seize its assets after security agencies said they thwarted a sabotage plot linked to the group.
The Brotherhood, founded in 1928 by Egyptian scholar Hassan al-Banna, grew into a vast religiopolitical movement spanning Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and parts of North Africa.
By the late 1940s, the group claimed hundreds of thousands of members and ran an extensive network of schools, clinics and charities.
Its evolution from religious outreach to political activism—and, at times, armed resistance—has long divided opinion across the Middle East.
Critics point to the Brotherhood’s armed wing in the 1940s, which was linked to political assassinations and bombings. Supporters say the organization renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist vision through elections and social engagement.
Today, the group is banned in multiple countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Jordan became the latest to outlaw the movement, prohibiting its publications, political advocacy and organizational activity.
The Brotherhood’s current Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badie, is serving multiple life sentences and a death sentence in Egypt on charges related to alleged plots to incite unrest after the 2013 military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood figure who briefly became Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.
In parts of the region, Brotherhood-inspired political parties remain active.
Jordan’s Islamic Action Front—formerly aligned with the movement—continues to hold seats in parliament. Tunisia’s Ennahda, also influenced by Brotherhood ideology, emerged as a dominant political force after the 2011 Arab Spring before losing power amid political turmoil.
A U.S. terrorist designation would mark a major shift in Washington’s approach, raising complex questions about enforcement, diplomatic implications, and how broadly the label would be applied.
The Brotherhood operates through decentralized structures across multiple countries, with factions that differ widely in strategy, ideology and engagement in politics.
The administration has not provided a timeline for the decision, and officials in the region have yet to respond publicly. But the move is likely to be welcomed by governments that have long urged Washington to take a harder stance on the movement—and strongly opposed by others who view the Brotherhood as a legitimate political actor.
