JERUSALEM – President Donald Trump’s executive order sanctioning the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) will prevent a slippery slope of U.S. military and government officials facing prosecution from a nebulous judicial bureaucracy in the Netherlands, argue critics of the global criminal body.

Richard Goldberg, a former Trump official who served on his first National Security Council, told Fox News Digital, “This is a critical first step in defending American soldiers and officials from further lawfare illegitimately waged by radical anti-Americans at what’s become an international kangaroo court. Israel may be in the news today, but tomorrow it will be the Americans who are still being wrongfully investigated by the court for supposed war crimes in Afghanistan.”

Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added, “These ICC officials have crossed a line, they have entered the battlefield against the United States and Israel by perverting international law and using it as a tool of warfare. The president has preserved an escalation ladder here, too. These sanctions only apply to officials and service providers, not to the court itself. We could absolutely go the next step and shut down the court if this lawfare isn’t terminated.”

President Donald Trump, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2025. ( REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Dozens of countries expressed their “unwavering support” for the ICC on Friday, a day after Trump authorized potentially far-reaching economic and travel sanctions against the court’s staff.

“We reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality and integrity of the ICC,” a group of almost 80 countries said in a joint statement. “The court serves as a vital pillar of the international justice system by ensuring accountability for the most serious international crimes, and justice for victims.”

The signatories came from all parts of the world but make up only about two-thirds of the 125 member states of the permanent court for the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression.

Among the countries who agreed to the statement were France, Germany and Britain. Among those absent were Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy.

Goldberg said that “The president wasn’t going to wait around on Schumer’s games to act. The minute Senate Democrats blocked the bill it was a guarantee you would see an executive order follow. But if Schumer now says he supports the order, Senate Republicans should move quickly to codify it and force Schumer back to a vote.”

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer,D-NY., torpedoed a GOP-led bill to sanction the ICC in January.

Reuters and Fox News’ Diana Stancy contributed to this article