Gulf Analysts Suggest U.S. Designation of Muslim Brotherhood as Terror Organization is Imminent
Prominent Middle East experts hint at potential designation as early as this week, while prominent Republican politicians continue to call for Trump to ban the transnational Islamist movement
Two prominent Emirati political analysts have indicated that the United States may formally designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization as early as Wednesday, suggesting the Trump administration’s efforts to classify the transnational Islamist group could materialize sooner than anticipated.
Amjad Taha, an Emirati expert in strategic and political affairs for the Middle East, stated on X that the designation could come “hopefully by Wednesday.” Ahmed Al Sharif, a UAE-based political analyst, similarly suggested on the platform, while referring to the potential U.S. designation, that “the day is sooner than we think….”
Both analysts’ comments come amid mounting bipartisan congressional pressure and public statements from Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming the administration is actively pursuing the designation. The timing of their statements is notable given the UAE’s long-standing advocacy for such action and the analysts’ typically well-informed positions on U.S.-Gulf coordination on counterterrorism matters.
Rubio Confirms Designation “In The Works”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on August 12, 2025, that the Trump administration is advancing plans to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. In an interview with radio host Sid Rosenberg, Rubio stated, “All of that is in the works.”
Rubio outlined significant legal and procedural challenges facing the designation. “Obviously, there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them,” he explained. “These things are going to be challenged in court. You have to show your work like a math problem when you go before court. All you need is one federal judge—and there are plenty—that are willing to do these nationwide injunctions and basically try to run the country from the bench.”
The secretary emphasized that Hamas must be eliminated for lasting peace in Gaza, stating, “You can have a ceasefire for 30, 60, 90 days. You will not have peace in Gaza as long as Hamas exists.”
Despite these procedural hurdles, the administration has received substantial support from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have introduced legislation to formalize the designation.
On Oct. 26, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, stated in an exchange with Laura Loomer on X that Secretary Rubio has given numerous interviews making clear the matter is “in the works,” and advised her to “stay tuned,” hinting the designation may be forthcoming.
Bipartisan Congressional Push
The legal and bureaucratic challenges Rubio described have not deterred lawmakers from advancing legislation to mandate the designation. On July 16, 2025, members of both chambers introduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, marking a significant bipartisan effort to codify the group’s classification as a terrorist organization.
Senator Ted Cruz led the introduction of S.2293 in the Senate, joined by Senators Tom Cotton, John Boozman, Rick Scott, Ashley Moody, and Dave McCormick. The bill implements a modernized strategy for designating the global Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
“The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, and it provides support to Muslim Brotherhood branches that are terrorist organizations,” Cruz stated in a press release. “One of those branches is Hamas, which on October 7 committed the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which included the murder and kidnapping of at least 53 Americans.”
Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart and Jared Moskowitz, co-chairs of the Friends of Egypt Caucus, reintroduced companion legislation in the House as H.R. 4397. The bipartisan bill includes Democratic cosponsors Tom Suozzi and Josh Gottheimer, alongside Republicans Randy Fine, Chuck Fleischmann, John H. Rutherford, Mike Bost, and Andy Barr.
“The global Muslim Brotherhood has numerous regional branches, including terrorist organizations such as Hamas, and spreads violence and instability throughout the Middle East,” Díaz-Balart said. “For this reason, it is crucial to U.S. national security interests that we prohibit U.S. dollars from enabling the Muslim Brotherhood’s dangerous activities.”
Democratic cosponsor Moskowitz stated, “The Muslim Brotherhood has a documented history of promoting terrorism against the United States, our allies, and our society. Countries such as Bahrain, Egypt, Austria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and France have already taken important steps to investigate and crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates.”
The legislation directs designation through three statutory authorities: Congressional designation under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, State Department designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, and Treasury Department designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. The bills mandate the Secretary of State to catalog Muslim Brotherhood branches designated as terrorist groups and designate additional ones meeting relevant criteria.
In addition to congressional actions, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, on October 28, 2025, called for designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. In his X post, he cited the group’s own 1991 memorandum declaring a goal to “destroy Western civilization from within,” and argued that the U.S. government must formally recognize the Brotherhood’s threat by adding it to the list of designated terrorist entities.
Background: Origins and Global Network
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, is a transnational Islamist organization that operates through regional branches across more than 70 countries. From it’s inception the group sought to overthrow governments, and through both violence and organizational infiltration, implement Islamic rule based on Sharia law in their place.
The group’s strategic objectives for the United States were outlined in a 1991 memorandum titled “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America.” The document, seized by the FBI and entered as evidence in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial, described the Brotherhood’s mission in America as “a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
According to Jewish Onliner’s own comprehensive report, the Muslim Brotherhood operates through a decentralized network of affiliates that function with varying degrees of autonomy but maintain loyalty to the organization’s core ideology. These regional branches include Hamas in the Palestinian territories, which was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1997.
Recent Enforcement Action
In a related development, Secretary Rubio’s State Department this week oversaw the detainment of a suspected Muslim Brotherhood leader while on a speaking tour in the U.S. for deportation. The enforcement action signals the administration’s broader approach to addressing Muslim Brotherhood presence in the United States alongside the formal designation process.