Donald Trump branding Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation risks alienating 'entire Muslim world', says the New York Times

CIA believes designation would be a propaganda coup for Isis

President Donald Trump (Getty)

The New York Times has turned up the heat on Donald Trump in their long-running feud, saying the US President could alienate "the entire Muslim world" if he goes ahead with a reported plan to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

Senior figures at the paper, which President Trump has previously described as "failing", said the US leader had already "made America look cruel and incompetent in the eyes of the world with his sweeping immigration edict" and that the move "would be seen by many Muslims as another attempt to vilify adherents of Islam".

While a report in the Times on Wednesday suggested the signing of an executive order had been delayed by protests from officials in the State Department and others, its board sent a strong message to the White House.

The State Department says in order to be added to its list an organisation must carry out terrorist attacks or retain the ability and intention to do so, and that its activity must pose a risk to US national security or the safety of its citizens.

The Times board argued that while violent groups including Hamas have come out of the Brotherhood, the Brotherhood itself as "a collection of groups and movements" has renounced violence.

A CIA memo, reported by Politico, warned that adding the Brotherhood to the list could "provide Isis and al-Qaeda additional grist for propaganda to win followers and support, particularly for attacks against US interests".

And because of the movement's wide support, "many Arabs and Muslims worldwide would view an MB designation as an affront to their core religious and societal values", the memo added.

Some members "have engaged in violence", its author conceded.

The Times leader said listing the Brotherhood could cause political complications in countries with which the US has dealings because of its involvement in political parties in Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq and others.

As Prime Minister, David Cameron oversaw the publication of a report into the Brotherhood.

It said it was a transnational network with links in the UK and national organisations "in and outside the Islamic world".

In a scathing assessment, he described the movement as "deliberately opaque and habitually secretive".

In a statement to MPs in December 2015, Mr Cameron wrote: "Aspects of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology and activities… run counter to British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, equality and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

"Parts of the Muslim Brotherhood have a highly ambiguous relationship with violent extremism. Both as an ideology and as a network it has been a rite of passage for some individuals and groups who have gone on to engage in violence and terrorism."