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() President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court as he accuses the body of targeting the U.S. and its allies, a White House official told .
reported on the order, originally set to be signed on Tuesday but was pushed back due to a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The order will put financial and visa sanctions on individuals and their family members who help the ICC investigate U.S. citizens or allies.
The U.S. has never accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC and is not a party to the Rome Statute. In a fact sheet, the administration said the statue gives the ICC broad power that “pose a significant threat to United States sovereignty and ourconstitution protections.”
The court was created in 2002 to facilitate international justice for war crimes, crimes of aggression, genocide and crimes against humanity.
The Trump administration said the court has been politicized because it issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials and Hamas officials at the same time.
The administration claims the court constrains democratic nations from exercising the right of self-defense while failing to hold other regimes like Iran accountable. The administration says investigations into the U.S. and Israel “undermine its credibility as an impartial arbiter of international justice.”
Trump has also decried the cost of the court, which has had expenditures of more than $2 billion. However, the U.S. has not been a regular contributor to ICC funding, with Congress typically blocking any efforts to give funds.
Trump previously sanctioned the ICC during his first administration, freezing assets and banning officials from entering the U.S. after the court opened an investigation into American actions in Afghanistan.
The move comes after Trump suggested the U.S. “take over” the Gaza Strip, a proposal that global leaders have rejected and which some suggested is illegal.
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