Trump’s Muslim Brotherhood move rekindles US debate over Islamist movement
The executive order targeting Muslim Brotherhood chapters comes after President Trump weighed designating the entire movement in his first term.
WASHINGTON — With his executive order targeting the Muslim Brotherhood, President Donald Trump is ending a long-running debate within his administration over how to address the far-reaching Islamist movement.
The president’s order on Monday formally tasks the administration with determining whether individual Muslim Brotherhood chapters should be branded as “foreign terrorist organizations” or classified in the less severe category of “specially designated global terrorists.”
It follows a sustained push from Republicans and hawkish Democrats to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928 and today has millions of members spread across dozens of countries. Most recently, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) reintroduced legislation to label the group a terrorist organization.
The Trump administration in its first term weighed labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization amid lobbying from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose leaders view the pan-Islamist movement as an existential threat to their authoritarian rule.
