President Donald Trump may pave the way for the return of the CIA black site program and explore designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, The New York Times reports.
Trump’s draft executive order reportedly includes revoking detainee’s access to the International Red Cross at Guantanamo Bay, and would lift former President Barack Obama’s executive order closuring all CIA prisons. The draft order does not explicitly reopen any of the CIA prisons, but instead would ask Trump’s national security advisors to offer him recommendations on how to proceed.
Trump’s order would similarly continue the Bush Administration’s policy of holding and prosecuting detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Obama tried desperately to close the prison throughout his presidency, and transferred hundreds of prisoners to other countries. Trump said during the Presidential transition that he was displeased with Obama’s transfer of detainee’s, indicating he will likely keep the prison open.
Another expected Trump executive order will direct Secretary of State designate Rex Tillerson to determine whether the U.S. should designate the Muslim Brother political machine a terrorist organization. The Muslim Brotherhood is a political party in several Arab countries whose ideology is linked to radical Islamic elements such as al-Qaida.
Tillerson indicated in his confirmation hearing that he considered the Muslim brotherhood a threat to the U.S. saying, “The demise of ISIS would also allow us to increase our attention on other agents of radical Islam like al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and certain elements within Iran.”
U.S. allies Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and have pushed the White House to follow suit for years. Critics of the designation say the Muslim Brotherhood are simply an Islamist political party, that does not share in extremist ideology.
Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter
Send tips to saagar@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.