Who are Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Ismail Royer? Trump ally claims jihadist, Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist who trained in Pakistan, appointed to White House advisory board

The two individuals, Ismail Royer and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf have been linked to extremist groups in intelligence reports. (Picture credit: Religious Freedom Institute & Zaytuna college)

In a move raising concerns within diplomatic and security circles, US President Donald Trump's government has appointed two individuals with alleged ties to militant organizations to a White House advisory committee. These two individuals — Ismail Royer and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf — both appointed to White House Advisory Board of Lay Leaders, have been linked to extremist groups in intelligence reports.

After White House announced the appointments in a statement on Friday, TOI quoted Laura Loomer, US President's ally who played a major role in the firing of Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, as saying that Royer's appointment to White House Advisory Board of Lay Leaders Royer was “insane”.

Loomer said that Ismail Royer and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf were named to the board despite their alleged connections with Islamic jihadists and terror groups. Reacting to the appointments, Laura tweeted: "Islamic JIHADIST who traveled to Pakistan to train in an Islamic terror camp and served a 20 year prison sentence in the US for Jihadi terrorist activities has now been listed as a member of the White House Advisory Board of Lay Leaders."

Who is Ismail Royer?

As per the White House statement, "Royer serves as the Director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute. Since converting to Islam in 1992, he has studied religious sciences with traditional Islamic scholars and spent over a decade working at non-profit Islamic organizations. Royer has worked with nonprofits to promote peace between faiths. His writing has appeared in multiple publications and he co-authored an article on Islam on Religious Violence Today: Faith and Conflict in the Modern World."

However, revealing Royer's alleged connections with jihadists, Loomer called him a "Muslim Brotherhood Hamas jihadist" who was found by the US' Department of Justice (DOJ) to have traveled to Pakistan to train in a terrorist camp and who was part of the Virginia Jihadi Network that trained Islamic terrorists to attack America.

She further stated that Royer was investigated by the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and indicted on terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy to levy war against the United States and providing material support to al-Qaeda and Pakistani terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in 2003.

Loomer informed that Royer plead guilty to aiding and abetting the use of firearms and explosives, receiving a 20-year sentence and serving 13 years in 2004.

She wrote: "Ismail Royer, born Randall Todd Royer, is an American convert to Islam with a history of terrorism-related activities that raises serious concerns about his suitability for a position on the Trump advisory board. In the 1990s, Royer embraced Islam and became involved in Muslim advocacy, but his experiences fighting in the Bosnian War and engaging with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan in 2000 marked a turn toward jihadi militancy. His activities with LeT, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, included propaganda, firing at Indian positions in Kashmir, and possessing weapons, demonstrating a commitment to violent jihadist causes."

After 9/11, Loomer claimed that Royer was a central figure in the "Virginia Jihad Network" and he organized paintball training and facilitated travel to Lashkar-e-Taiba camps for weapons training. Some members of the above-mentioned group supported Taliban against US forces, she said. Royer plead guilty in 2004 while acknowledging that he facilitated others’ access to LeT training and supporting Taliban efforts.

He was released from prison in 2017 and "has a long, documented history of enabling terrorist activities and supporting jihadist causes remains a significant concern for any advisory role," she wrote.

While establishing his connection with LeT's militant cadres that orchestrated the killings during 2008 Mumbai attacks, she said Royer demonstrated an alignment with "anti-American and extremist ideologies".

EXCLUSIVE:
Islamic JIHADIST who traveled to Pakistan to train in an Islamic terror camp and served a 20 year prison sentence in the US for Jihadi terrorist activities has now been listed as a member of the White House Advisory Board of Lay Leaders, Announced Today on the pic.twitter.com/d1HHHGUFYX Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 17, 2025

Who is Shaykh Hamza Yusuf?

As per the White House notification: "Sheikh Hamza is one of the leading proponents of classical learning in Islam and is a co-founder of Zaytuna College, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the United States. He is an advisor to the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. For almost a decade, Hamza was consecutively ranked as “The Western world’s most influential Islamic scholar” in The 500 Most Influential Muslims. During the first Trump administration, he served on the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights."

Revealing Yusuf's jihadist links, Loomer wrote that he too is a "jihadi who has lied about the true definition of jihad and is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas." At the Zaytuna College, which he co-founded, Loomer claimed Yusuf teaches Sharia Law.

"I regret to inform you that Shaykh Hamza Yusuf @yusufis also a Jihadi who has lied about the true definition of jihad and is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and HAMAS. Zaytuna College, which was co-founded by Hamza Yusuf @sh_hamzayusuf, teaches Sharia Law," she wrote.

EXCLUSIVE: 2 jihadists have been appointed to the White House Advisory Board of Lay Leaders, Announced Today on the official White House website Ismail Royer and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf co-founder of Zaytuna College are both listed despite their affiliations with Islamic https://t.co/QdKMI5V3Md pic.twitter.com/L04Jq9JwwB
Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 17, 2025