The U.S. government is making moves to formally designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s Middle East trip, lawmakers and other sources familiar with the effort tell the Washington Free Beacon.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a global Islamist organization, has long faced scrutiny for its promotion of extremist ideologies. While the United States has yet to formally designate it as a terrorist group, several Middle Eastern countries—including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, and Bahrain—have already done so. The recent momentum follows a closed-door congressional briefing by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), which emphasized strategies to counter the Brotherhood’s influence in the U.S.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a vocal advocate for the designation, stated, “The Muslim Brotherhood uses political violence to achieve political ends and destabilize American allies, both within countries and across national boundaries.” He highlighted the group’s connection to Hamas, noting, “The Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is Hamas, a terrorist group which on Oct. 7 committed the largest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and which included the murder and kidnapping of dozens of Americans.”
Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA) echoed this sentiment, asserting, “[The] Muslim Brotherhood—or any terrorist organization, for that matter—should be designated as such.” She praised the Trump administration’s efforts, saying, “Peace through strength is back in the White House, and we must continue signaling deterrence.”
The designation could proceed through classifying the Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) or adding it to the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list. Both avenues would impose financial sanctions and restrict the group’s operations.
ISGAP’s executive director, Charles Asher Small, emphasized the Brotherhood’s role in fostering antisemitism, stating, “We are witnessing the consequences of the Muslim Brotherhood’s long-term plan to undermine democracy from within.” He added, “The recent wave of violent unrest in the United States…is the result of a radical ideological infrastructure led by the same forces associated with the atrocities of October 7, carried out by the Palestinian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood—Hamas.”
