US labels three Muslim Brotherhood branches as 'terrorist' organisations

President Donald Trump's administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as 'terrorist organisations', imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for US relationships with allies Qatar and Turkey.

The Treasury and State departments announced the actions on Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the United States and American interests.

The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organisation, the most severe of the labels, which makes it a criminal offence to provide material support to the group.

The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by the Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to the Palestinian group Hamas.

"These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters' violence and destabilisation wherever it occurs," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

"The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism."

Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were mandated last year under an executive order signed by Trump to determine the most appropriate way to impose sanctions on the groups, which US officials say engage in or support violence and destabilisation campaigns that harm the United States and other regions.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence.

Trump's executive order had singled out the chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, claiming that a wing of the Lebanese chapter had launched rockets on Israel following the outbreak of the war on Gaza. Leaders of the group in Jordan have provided support to Hamas, the order said.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 but was banned in that country in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.

Trump, a Republican, weighed whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2019 during his first term in office. Some prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, have pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group.

Two Republican-led state governments, Florida and Texas, designated the group as a terrorist organisation this year.