US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday initiating the process to designate chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt as foreign terrorist organizations.
In justifying the order, Trump stated that “the military wing of the Lebanese chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood joined Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian factions to launch multiple rocket attacks against both civilian and military targets within Israel” following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. He alleged that “a senior leader of the Egyptian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, on October 7, 2023, called for violent attacks against United States partners and interests” and that “Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood leaders have long provided material support to the militant wing of Hamas.”
Trump draws the power to designate an organization as a terrorist organization through 8 USC 1189. The act states: “the terrorist activity or terrorism of the organization threatens the security of United States nationals or the national security of the United States.”
Trump also uses his presidential power to call for an emergency through 50 USC 1701, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Act states:
“Any authority … may be exercised to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.”
President Trump also cited Executive Order 13224, which was originally signed by former President George W. Bush. The executive order allows the president to “designate and block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism.”
Texas governor Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as terrorist organizations under Texas law on November 18.
