Three Muslim Brotherhood Branches Labeled Terrorist Groups by Trump

President Donald Trump is once again drawing a hard line against radical Islamic extremism a line that Washington’s political class spent years pretending didn’t need to exist.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration formally designated three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, delivering a major blow to one of the most influential Islamist networks operating across the Middle East and beyond. The move includes new sanctions and criminal penalties aimed at choking off funding, recruitment, and international coordination.

The Lebanese branch received the most severe classification as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, making any material support a federal crime. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were designated as global terrorist entities for their documented support of Hamas already listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the administration’s intent unmistakable.

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

This action follows Trump’s executive order signed in November, laying the legal groundwork to finally hold specific Muslim Brotherhood factions accountable for their ties to terrorism, rocket attacks against Israel, and direct cooperation with Hamas and Hezbollah.

According to the order:

• The Lebanese branch coordinated rocket attacks on civilian and military targets in Israel.

• The Egyptian branch encouraged violent actions against U.S. allies and interests.

• The Jordanian branch provided material support to Hamas’s militant wing.

Why this designation matters:

• It criminalizes financial support, recruitment, and logistical aid tied to these organizations.

• It enables the U.S. Treasury to freeze assets and block international transactions.

• It sends a clear deterrent message to foreign governments and NGOs enabling Islamist groups.

• It strengthens cooperation with allies combating terror financing networks.

This is the kind of decisive leadership Americans have been demanding for years especially after decades of failed appeasement policies that emboldened radical groups instead of dismantling them.

The Muslim Brotherhood is not some fringe movement. Founded in Egypt in 1928, its ideology openly promotes jihad against non-Muslims and Western values. Today, analysts estimate that Brotherhood-linked organizations operate in more than 70 countries, influencing politics, education, and religious institutions worldwide. Hamas itself traces ideological roots directly back to the Brotherhood’s doctrine.

Meanwhile, the global cost of Islamist terrorism remains staggering. Since 2001, terrorist attacks linked to Islamist networks have claimed over 150,000 lives worldwide, according to international security databases. The financial footprint is equally alarming, with extremist organizations generating billions annually through donations, shell charities, and state-backed channels.

Trump’s move also aligns with aggressive state-level action taken by Republican governors. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis previously labeled the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations, igniting lawsuits and predictable outrage from activist groups. Abbott has pushed the federal government to revoke CAIR’s tax-exempt status, citing past court filings and intelligence assessments linking the group to Hamas infrastructure.

Predictably, the Left has responded with silence or hostility. Instead of confronting extremist threats head-on, progressive lawmakers continue to obsess over virtue signaling and political correctness while national security risks grow.

This designation sends a clear message: America will no longer tolerate networks that hide behind political language while funding violence and radicalization.

It also reinforces Trump’s broader foreign policy doctrine peace through strength, accountability over appeasement, and clarity over bureaucratic doublespeak.

As global instability increases and terrorist organizations look for new footholds, leadership matters. And once again, Trump is proving that strong borders, strong laws, and strong enforcement still work.

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