U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the State and Treasury Departments to evaluate whether international branches of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as terror organizations.
While the order is not an immediate designation, it signals a major potential shift in U.S. counterterror policy. Many of the Brotherhood’s regional branches — especially in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan — have direct or indirect ties to Hamas, the Gaza-based terror group responsible for the massacres of October 7.
The White House stated that the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood helped facilitate rocket attacks on Israel, while an Egyptian Brotherhood figure encouraged attacks on U.S. allies shortly after Hamas’s atrocities. The Jordanian branch has also supported Hamas’s military activities.
If designated, these chapters could face crippling sanctions, shutting down funding streams used by Hamas and other extremist groups hostile to Israel.
The order notably omits Turkey and Qatar — nations with long-standing Brotherhood ties but also close relations with Washington. Still, the move represents a strategic step: by targeting the Brotherhood’s regional network, the U.S. could significantly weaken Hamas’s international support infrastructure.
