The Trump administration designated three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations on Tuesday and imposed new sanctions in an effort to curb the Islamic extremist group. The administration singled out the Lebanese branch for the harshest designation, labeling it a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a classification that criminalizes any material support under federal law. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were designated as global terrorist entities for their support for Hamas, which the United States also classifies as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. “These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said 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.” In November, Trump signed an executive order paving the way for his administration to classify certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist organizations. He said that “final documents are being drawn” for the designation to be “done in the strongest and most powerful terms.” Trump’s executive order states that the Lebanese chapter joined Hamas and Hezbollah and other Palestinian factions to launch rockets at both civilians and military targets in Israel. It listed the Egyptian chapter as calling for “violent attacks against United States partners and interests” and the Jordanian chapter’s leaders as providing “material support to the militant wing of Hamas.” “Such activities threaten the security of American civilians in the Levant and other parts of the Middle East, as well as the safety and stability of our regional partners,” the order said. The move comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued state-level orders in late 2025 labeling both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations. CAIR, which describes itself as the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the United States, responded by suing both state governments and declaring that it does not support terrorism. Following DeSantis’s declaration, the group accused the Florida governor of being “Israel first.” Abbott called on the Trump administration to strip CAIR of its tax-exempt status for its alleged ties to foreign terrorist organizations. He argued that federal investigators and court filings have identified CAIR as “a direct subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood” and as a “front group” for Hamas in the United States. He also cited a recent report that claims CAIR awarded $1,000 cash grants to college students who disrupted classes and intimidated or harassed fellow students “while celebrating Hamas’s October 7th attack.”  The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. Its founder, Hassan al-Banna, spoke openly about fighting non-Muslims through jihad and wrote that “Jihad is an obligation from Allah and every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded.” Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, and Jordan followed in April 2025.