Subversion Strategy: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Underestimated Security Threat

On November 24, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the State and Treasury Departments to initiate proceedings for designating select branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).

Notably, this initial order specifically named only three such Muslim Brotherhood branches located in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. In Lebanon, the Muslim Brotherhood operates through the Al-Fajr Forces, which functions as the military wing of the Islamic Group. In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood is represented in parliament but in April 2025, Jordanian authorities arrested a cell accused of smuggling weapons to Hamas in Gaza. Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928, has seen consistent crackdowns by the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi regime on its activities. Hamas, as the Gaza branch of the original Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, has been listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997.

The executive order did not include Muslim Brotherhood-supporting regimes in Qatar and Turkey, despite these nations backing chapters that engage in terrorism.

The Muslim Brotherhood was established as a jihadist organization in Egypt in 1928. To qualify for designation as an FTO or SDGT under Section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, a group must be found to be foreign, engaged in or capable of engaging in terrorism (defined as kinetic violence), and pose a threat to U.S. nationals or national security.

The Trump administration’s executive order noted such activities occurring in “the Levant and other parts of the Middle East,” but not within the United States itself.

The Muslim Brotherhood has evolved into a decentralized network with no central headquarters or unified leadership, as noted by Mark Dubowitz and Mariam Wahba on November 24, 2025. These structural characteristics have long hindered efforts to designate the entire organization as an FTO.

The administration’s focus remains on kinetic violence rather than the Muslim Brotherhood’s actual modus operandi.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s 1991 “Explanatory Memorandum” details its vision for a “Civilization-Jihadist Process,” stating that the Muslim Brotherhood’s work in America is part of a grand jihad aimed at eliminating Western civilization from within.

The organization has methodically infiltrated social institutions, government agencies, and media platforms over decades—echoing strategies attributed to 20th century Italian communist Antonio Gramsci and outlined in W. Cleon Skousen’s 1958 book “The Naked Communist.”

American society appears ill-equipped to recognize or counter such subversion, particularly given the absence of a federal law criminalizing subversion under the U.S. criminal code (unlike sedition or treason).

As Islamic law and the practice of hijra—establishing Muslim enclaves—gain traction in the United States, including projects like the planned EPIC City in Texas, the threat from internal subversion becomes increasingly urgent.

Governor Gregg Abbott of Texas has initiated a legal investigation into the growing presence of Islamic courts and tribunals in his state, noting that shariah law contradicts Article VI of the U.S. Constitution.