Washington Acts on Muslim Brotherhood—While Brussels Looks Away

For a good number of European nations, taking the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood “seriously” means launching investigations and (eventually) releasing reports. Meanwhile, it appears Washington may be about to show them how it should be done—by designating the Brotherhood as a terrorist group outright.

Senator Ted Cruz plans to introduce a bill after last month’s antisemitic attack in Colorado, which was reportedly carried out by a supporter of the Islamist group which is working to infiltrate Western societies.

Cruz told The Hill the Brotherhood “uses political violence to achieve political ends and destabilise American allies, both within countries and across national boundaries.” He added that Joe Biden’s administration enabled group members to “consolidate and deepen their influence” under its watch,

But the [Donald] Trump administration and Republican Congress can no longer afford to avoid the threat they pose to Americans and American national security.

Rightwing figures across Europe have made similar demands of Brussels, including Sweden Democrats MEP Charlie Weimers, who is urging the European Union to stop playing “good cop.” But these calls have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Trump was planning to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2019, during his first term, but was stopped by lawmakers who didn’t believe the group met the criteria. This time, however, the move has support from senior Republican and Democrat figures.

Democrat Representative Jared Moskowitz, for example, has written to the president to highlight that the group’s “history of promoting extremist ideologies and terrorist activities through affiliates like Hamas threatens our national and global security.”

I’m urging the President to conduct a comprehensive investigation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Its history of promoting extremist ideologies and terrorist activities through affiliates like Hamas threatens our national & global security. pic.twitter.com/D9eyTPKfo1

— Congressman Jared Moskowitz (@RepMoskowitz) June 3, 2025

The National Interest magazine also stressed that designating the Brotherhood as terrorist “is not an attack on Islam” nor “an attack on religion” generally:

It is a declaration against terror cloaked in religious rhetoric, against the ideological machine that has radicalised generations and drenched cities in blood from Cairo to Tel Aviv to New York.