Marco Rubio Cut Off Muslim Brotherhood With One Move That Has Terror Networks Scrambling
Trump administration officials wasted no time delivering on the President's promises to crack down on terrorism.
They're going after organizations that have operated in the shadows for decades.
And Marco Rubio cut off the Muslim Brotherhood with one move that has terror networks scrambling.
Rubio designates three Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist organizations
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made good on President Trump's November executive order by officially designating the Egyptian, Lebanese, and Jordanian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.
The Lebanese branch got hit with the harshest possible label — foreign terrorist organization status that makes helping them a federal felony.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went after the Egyptian and Jordanian branches at the same time, branding them specially designated global terrorists for their Hamas support.
The designations freeze every dollar these groups control in America, ban their members from entering the country, and criminalize any transactions with them.
Rubio based the action on what these organizations did after Hamas terrorists slaughtered nearly 1,200 people on October 7, 2023.
The Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood reactivated its al-Fajr Forces military wing and launched rocket attacks into northern Israel alongside Hamas and Hezbollah.
Documents discovered in Hamas tunnels revealed Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members helped smuggle fighters into Gaza in 2024 to join the war against Israel.
Intelligence reports show Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood leaders manufactured rockets, explosives, and drones while recruiting fighters for Hamas operations.
Treasury exposes the underground terror pipeline
The Egyptian branch ran an underground railroad for Hamas fighters wanting to reach Gaza.
Muslim Brotherhood members in Egypt coordinated with Hamas commanders about when and where fighters would cross the border.
One Muslim Brotherhood operative in Saudi Arabia collected money for Hamas in 2023 and personally delivered the cash to militants before returning to Egypt.
The Jordanian branch went even further by setting up weapons manufacturing operations.
Muslim Brotherhood members in Jordan worked with foreign contacts to produce military-grade equipment specifically for Hamas terrorist attacks.
Jordan's government figured this out in April 2024 and banned the entire organization after discovering stockpiled weapons and destabilization plots.
The monarchy confiscated all Muslim Brotherhood assets inside the kingdom.
Lebanon's branch pushed for formal military alignment with the Hezbollah-Hamas axis under secretary general Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh's leadership.
Israeli forces caught al-Fajr operatives preparing terror attacks in March 2024 and took them out.
The Lebanese Army shut down a covert training camp in July 2025 where Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas militants trained together.
Trump picked the easy targets first — the hard ones are coming
Rubio chose these three chapters for a reason.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood got chased out by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over a decade ago and operates with minimal influence.
Jordan's King Abdullah already targeted his country's chapter before Trump acted.
Lebanon's faction supports Hamas but lacks the political protection other branches enjoy.
These were the low-hanging fruit.
The Muslim Brotherhood operates as the umbrella organization for political Islam across the Middle East — each national chapter represents a spoke on that umbrella.
Trump started with chapters that won't create diplomatic firestorms.
The chapters that really matter — the ones connected to friendly governments — are still operating.
Qatar hosts Muslim Brotherhood leadership and has bankrolled the organization for decades.
Turkey's government maintains close ties to the Brotherhood's ideology and protects its operations.
Syria's chapter remains embedded in the opposition movement.
Going after those branches means confronting governments that sometimes cooperate with American interests.
Trump's playing chess, not checkers.
Start with the easy designations, build momentum, establish the precedent, then tackle the politically sensitive targets.
The financial sanctions work the same regardless of which chapter gets designated — every penny these organizations move through U.S. dollars or American banks gets tracked, blocked, or seized.
Members can't travel to America or countries honoring U.S. terrorist designations.
The Muslim Brotherhood created the modern terror networks
The Muslim Brotherhood has operated as a transnational terror incubator since its founding in Egypt in 1928.
Hamas's 1988 charter explicitly identified the group as the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian wing.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi trained as a Muslim Brotherhood member before launching his terrorist career.
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri came up through Muslim Brotherhood ranks.
Trump contemplated designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists during his first term but faced bureaucratic resistance about evidence and diplomatic complications.
Egypt immediately welcomed America's designation, calling it recognition of the group's extremist ideology and direct threat to regional security.
The Egyptian government outlawed its domestic Muslim Brotherhood chapter in 2013 after the military removed the Brotherhood's President Mohammed Morsi from power.
Egyptian authorities arrested an estimated 60,000 Muslim Brotherhood members and stripped the organization of all visible operations.
Florida and Texas both designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization before Trump's federal action.
Rubio made clear this is just the opening move in Trump's campaign to dismantle the Brotherhood's global network.
The Trump administration is finally doing what should have been done decades ago — cutting off the money and support networks that keep terror organizations operational.
Sources:
- Rubio, Marco, "Terrorist Designations of Muslim Brotherhood Chapters," U.S. Department of State, January 14, 2026.
- Bessent, Scott, "Treasury and State Departments Designate Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorist Organizations," U.S. Department of the Treasury, January 14, 2026.
- Trump, Donald J., "Designation of Certain Muslim Brotherhood Chapters as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists," The White House, November 24, 2025.
- "US labels Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan as 'terrorists'," Al Jazeera, January 14, 2026.
- "Trump administration labels Muslim Brotherhood branches terrorist organizations," Fox News, January 14, 2026.
- "What to know about the Muslim Brotherhood after the US terrorist designation," ABC News, January 13, 2026.
