Florida’s Big Move: Muslim Brotherhood Named a Terrorist Organization
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Khalid Al Mansoor
- . December 11, 2025
- . Update: December 11, 2025 10:09 pm
On December 9, 2025, Florida made headlines by officially labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, becoming the first U.S. state to make an independent designation of a foreign terrorist organization not based on federal terrorism lists. Governor Ron DeSantis posted the announcement on his X (Twitter) account and said that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) had been added to the state-level designation. This was announced after a November 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump, instructing the federal agencies to start investigating and labeling organizations that are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The shift provokes the problems of the historical background, the legal issues, and the distinction between the state and the federal terrorism lists.
The Terrorist Designation at the State-Level in Florida and Its Implications
The ruling by Florida is a significant step towards the escalation of efforts by state governments to deal with groups that are perceived to be a security threat. The state-level banishment of the Muslim Brotherhood is, according to Governor DeSantis, in line with the attempts to intensify counterterrorism policy on Florida territory. The name gives the state powers to limit funding, surveillance, and curtail organizational practices in the state of Florida.
CAIR is also a foreign terror group labeled as such by the order at the state level. Critics state that these types of classifications pose the threat of stigmatizing the Muslim communities and organizations that are not confirmed by the federal government. Claims of connections with extremist organisations are something CAIR has repeatedly refuted, and the ruling is, according to it, politically motivated.
The action of Florida is the immediate consequence of the November 4, 2025, executive order issued by President Trump, which instructs the federal agencies to identify the groups that are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and mark them as such on the federal list. Although the federal review is still pending, the decision of the state to act unilaterally signifies the tensions between state power and the federal counterterrorism systems.
Historical Background: Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and U.S. Government Evaluations.
The Muslim Brotherhood was started in Egypt in 1928, and it has historically worked to form an Islamic state run by its ideological beliefs. It has inspired related movements all over the Middle East over the decades. The members of the Muslim Brotherhood founded Hamas in 1987, which is often referred to during U.S. security talks.
Various investigations and intelligence reports by the U.S. have claimed that some organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood have sponsored or funded Hamas. These are the allegations that the federal executive order and the name of Florida revolve around. Nonetheless, the Muslim Brotherhood as such is a legal entity in most nations, and the categorization of the Muslim Brotherhood is quite diverse, which underscores the difficulty of declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Critics, too, have cited claims against CAIR and certain of its affiliates that it is linked to extremist financing. CAIR has also denied the allegations of wrongdoing and has never been labeled a terrorist group at the federal level.
The Major Differences between Federal and State Terrorism Lists.
The move of Florida highlights the difference that exists between the state and federal levels in terms of terrorism designation. Federal lists are legal at the national and financial levels and have international implications. State terrorism lists are applied, however, to actions that occur within the jurisdiction of that specific state, though they may have an impact on local law enforcement, state contracts, and state funds.
The Florida labeling of the Muslim Brotherhood is a politically meaningful step, though the effect of it in the long term will be determined by the result of the federal investigation requested by President Trump.
