Muslim Brotherhood, accused of destabilising Middle East, to be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organisation, says Trump

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he plans to classify the Muslim Brotherhood, a nearly century-old Islamist organisation originating in Egypt with branches, political parties and allied movements worldwide, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, delivering a significant move against a group often accused of destabilising the Middle East and influencing the radicalisation of young Muslims, according to Just the News.

“It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms. Final documents are being drawn,” Trump mentioned.

Trump has been contemplating this action since his first term. Last week, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as “foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations". CAIR has rejected this designation and filed a lawsuit against the Texas government.

According to Politico, “CAIR says that proclamation, which bars its members from buying land in Texas, violates its members’ constitutional property and free speech rights.”

In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation was “in the works", but emphasised that the process is lengthy and careful, partly because the MB has many branches and affiliates that must be reviewed individually.

The White House stated, “President Trump is confronting the Muslim Brotherhood's transnational network, which fuels terrorism and destabilization campaigns against US interests and allies in the Middle East.”

During the first Trump administration, the Muslim Brotherhood resisted the potential terrorism designation, stating in 2019 that “we will remain [...] steadfast in our work in accordance with our moderate and peaceful thinking in what we believe to be right, for honest and constructive cooperation, to serve the communities in which we live and humanity as a whole", Just the News reported.

At that time, the MB also added, "The Muslim Brotherhood will remain stronger — through God's grace and power — than any decision.” The organization’s motto is: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”

About The Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt in 1928 by Sunni imam Hassan al-Banna, with the goal of creating an Islamic state, or caliphate, governed by sharia law. Sayyid Qutb, a prominent thinker and leader of the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1940s through the 1960s, was an Egyptian revolutionary whose advocacy of jihad is thought to have influenced later jihadists, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

“The global Muslim Brotherhood has numerous regional branches, including terrorist organizations such as Hamas, and spreads violence and instability throughout the Middle East,” Díaz-Balart mentioned.

Díaz added, “For this reason, it is crucial to U.S. national security interests that we prohibit U.S. dollars from enabling the Muslim Brotherhood’s dangerous activities, and that we ensure Muslim Brotherhood members are blocked from entering the United States.”

The group is banned in both Jordan and Egypt, a report by BBC noted. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain termed it as a terrorist organisation.