Trump Designates Muslim Brotherhood Branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as Terrorist Organizations in Sweeping Crackdown

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON D.C. (Worthy News) – The administration of Donald Trump has formally designated three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, following through on a long-signaled policy shift that could reverberate across U.S. relations in the Middle East, including with allies Qatar and Turkey.

In a joint announcement Tuesday, the U.S. State Department and Treasury Department said they were targeting the Muslim Brotherhood’s chapters in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, citing their involvement in terrorism and support for Hamas.

The State Department designated the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), the most severe classification under U.S. law, making it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, listed the Egyptian and Jordanian branches as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) for providing material assistance to Hamas.

“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” said Marco Rubio in a statement. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”

As part of the action, the Treasury Department also designated Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, leader of the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood, as an SDGT, freezing any assets under U.S. jurisdiction and barring Americans from conducting transactions with him.

According to Treasury officials, the Egyptian branch of the Brotherhood — founded in 1928 — has for years coordinated with and financed Hamas, while also receiving funds from the group to fuel unrest aimed at destabilizing Egypt’s government. Egypt outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi.

In Jordan, officials said Brotherhood members materially assisted Hamas and were involved in multiple terrorism cases, despite the group being dissolved by judicial order in 2020 and formally banned by Amman in April.

“Despite their peaceful public façade, both the Egyptian and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood branches have conspired to support Hamas’s terrorism and undermine the sovereignty of their own national governments,” said John K. Hurley, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The designations stem from a November executive order issued by President Trump directing the administration to dismantle the operational and financial networks of Muslim Brotherhood chapters deemed a threat to U.S. national security. The order cited the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel, noting that the military wing of the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood joined Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Palestinian factions in launching rocket attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets.

The order also referenced statements by senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood figures calling for violence against U.S. partners and long-standing Jordanian Brotherhood support for Hamas’s militant wing.

Under the new measures, all property and financial interests of the three Brotherhood chapters within U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen, including assets of any entities majority-owned by them. U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designated groups.

The Muslim Brotherhood has long been accused by U.S. lawmakers and security analysts of pursuing a strategy to influence Western societies from within. A report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy has warned that the group has sought to embed itself on U.S. college campuses as part of a broader ideological campaign.

Both Florida and Texas have previously designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization at the state level.

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