FL Governor Designates Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR as Terrorist Organizations
The wording of Governor DeSantis' executive order could enable designation of other Brotherhood-linked entities and front groups in the state without requiring new orders
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 25-244 on December 8th, 2025, officially designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations under Florida law. However, the order’s language may create a pathway for designating additional Muslim Brotherhood front organizations operating in the Sunshine State.
The executive order states that “the Muslim Brotherhood supports a network of chapters and affiliated political entities and front organizations that engage in terrorism or funnel money to finance terrorist activities.” Additionally, it states:
“The Muslim Brotherhood and any chapter or subdivision thereof; the Council on American-Islamic Relations; and any other organization designated by the United States Government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1189) are hereby designated as terrorist organizations for the purposes of this Executive Order.”
This broad language establishes a legal framework that could potentially apply to dozens of other organizations beyond CAIR, without requiring additional executive orders.
As Jewish Onliner has previously reported, the Muslim Brotherhood’s own 1991 Explanatory Memorandum — seized by the FBI and entered as evidence in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial — lists 29 organizations that the Brotherhood identified as “our organizations and the organizations of our friends.” This document, which describes a strategy of “eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within,” provides a blueprint of the Brotherhood’s American network.
Organizations listed on the document include widely-known 501(c)(3) nonprofits operating throughout the United States: the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).
Among these, NAIT controls over 400 mosques and Islamic institutions across America — representing a significant portion of the nation’s Islamic facilities. The student group MSA operates 162 chapters on campuses nationwide and was allegedly founded by Muslim Brotherhood members.
Meanwhile, MAS was reportedly acknowledged by its own leadership as being founded by “Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] members,” according to testimony from its former general secretary. MAS operates 40 chapters across the U.S. and recently made headlines when a video of school children at one of their campuses resurfaced of the children singing about martyrdom, jihad, and beheadings.
Strong reporting. The self-executing clause is shrewd legislative drafting because it sidesteps the administrative burden of issuing seprate orders for each entity. The 1991 memolist functions almost like a pre-approved target directory. Curious how state enforcement interacts with federal designations here, since some of those 29 organizations aren't federally listed yet.
Solid reporting on the order's language. The part about not needing additional executive orders for related entities is probaly the most consequential becuse it creates a legal framwork that self-executes based on organizational ties. The 1991 memo's list basically becomes the roadmap here, which means state enforcement cpuld expand without going thru another political process.