The White House announced that US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing his administration to determine whether to designate certain branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as “foreign terrorist organizations” and “specially designated global terrorists,” according to Reuters.
Trump signed the executive order directing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent to submit a report on whether any branches of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated.
The report orders the two secretaries to proceed with any designations within 45 days of the report’s date.
The Trump administration accused Muslim Brotherhood factions in several Arab countries of supporting or encouraging violent attacks against Israel and US partners, or of providing material support to Hamas.
According to a White House statement, “President Trump is confronting the transnational Muslim Brotherhood network, which fuels terrorism and destabilizing campaigns against US interests and those of its allies in the Middle East.”
The conservative American newspaper “Just the News” on Sunday quoted Trump as saying that this move “will be done in the strongest and most forceful terms,” and that the final documents were being drafted.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly welcomed the report, indicating that he might follow suit.
