Trump initiates process to designate Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump has initiated the process of designating certain branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists,
which would bring sanctions on one of the oldest and most influential Islamist movements in the Arab world, Reuters reported late last night.

Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to report on whether to designate any branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as those in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan, according to a White House fact sheet.

The secretaries are ordered to proceed with any designations within 45 days of the report.

The Trump administration has accused Muslim Brotherhood factions in these countries of supporting or inciting violent attacks on Israel and US partners or providing material support to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"President Trump is confronting a transnational network of the Muslim Brotherhood, which fuels terrorism and destabilization campaigns against US interests and allies in the Middle East," according to the British agency.

Republicans and right-wing voices have long advocated for and considered designating the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists.

The Republican president made similar efforts during his first term. Months after the start of his second term, Rubio said the Trump administration was working to designate the movement as a terrorist organization.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, also a Republican, imposed the same designation on the Muslim Brotherhood at the state level last week.

The Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in the 1920s as an Islamic political movement to counter the spread of secular and nationalist ideas. It quickly spread to Muslim countries, becoming a major player, but often operating in secret, Reuters states.