Both states have conferred the designation on the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR

In 2016, when Donald Trump was elected for his first term as the United States president, he said in an interview that "I think Islam hates us. " Other senior political figures also spoke against Islam and those who were prominently engaged in defending the religion.

In January 2026, Representative Jason Smith, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status CAIR's California Chapter for, among other things, supporting pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses.

In a social media post prompting the law aimed at curtailing the influence of Muslim organisations, Florida Governor Ron De.

Satntis wrote: "We have a responsibility to defend and reinvigorate Western Civilization and that means protecting against creeping sharia in all forms.

" In 2023, the Biden White House condemned the CAIR's director, Nihad Awad, after it was revealed that he had, American Muslims for Palestine, that he was happy to see Palestinians "break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp on October 7", the day of the Hamas-led attack on Israel killing roughly 1,200 people.

In Florida, Governor Ron De. Santis, a staunch supporter of Isreal, has a long history of feuding with CAIR Florda, which has proclaimed its support for the Palestinians and wants their fundamental rights to be free from the Israeli occupation.

The state of Texas led by Governor Greg Abbot designated CAIR as a terrorist organisation in November 2025, citing testimony from the Holy Land Foundation trial in which an FBI agent described CAIR as front group for the Palestinian organisation Hamas.

In a statement, Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Governor Abbot, said the governor's actions "are targeted at radical groups that seek to forcibly impose sharia law on Texans".

"The states were shaping up as potential battlegrounds," wrote Richard Fausset in a long article he contributed to The New York Times and published by the newspaper on August 7, 2026 under the caption, "Muslim nonprofit gets terrorism label in Florda and Texas. " Continued Fausset: "This year bills were introduced in a number of Republican-led states, including Louisiana.

Those proposals did not become law but in Indiana, a new law allows the governor to designate groups 'as affiliates' of federally designated terror groups. "Several Muslim leaders were deeply concerned at the open expression of anti-Muslim sentiments by prominent political figures and rightist political organisations.

Only 7 per cent said they condoned 9/11. In recent years, Esposito directed a research project called the Bridge Initiative housed in Washington's Georgetown University that monitored issues related to Islamist bigotry around the world.