President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday restoring sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), punishing that international body and its senior officials if they try to pursue Americans or U.S. allies.
President Joe Biden had reversed the sanctions Trump imposed on the ICC in his first term. That, in turn, allowed the ICC to pursue American and Israeli leaders — and specifically to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a statement accompanying his order, Trump said:
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the International Criminal Court (ICC), as established by the Rome Statute, has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel. The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC.