US President Donald Trump signs two executive orders
Washington, DC: According to the media report, US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders: one that addressed what he described as “anti-Christian bias” and the other that placed penalties on the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to a fact sheet CNN was able to get, the first executive order restricts the financial and visa opportunities of “individuals and their family members who assist in ICC investigations of US citizens or our allies.”
According to the CNN story, this action is seen as a reaction to the ICC’s arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders, such as former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that were issued last year.
According to the article, Netanyahu and Gallant were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for Israel’s military activities in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught. The ICC warrants were denounced at the time by then-President Joe Biden.
Top Hamas officials, including the later-dead Yahya Sinwar, were also wanted by the ICC to be arrested.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress criticized the ICC’s action. The warrants, according to critics, falsely equate the head of a terrorist group with the head of a significant US ally. According to the article, the warrants make it impossible to travel to any of the 124 signatory nations that are legally obligated to uphold the court’s rulings, even though neither the US nor Israel are members of the ICC.
CNN said that the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office rejected the ICC warrants as “absurd and antisemitic.”
On Tuesday, Netanyahu, who is now in Washington, DC, became the first foreign leader to pay Trump a visit at the White House. Trump said that the United States will “take over” the Gaza Strip during a joint news conference. According to CNN, despite their problematic historical relationship, Trump’s remarks imply that if he wins reelection, Netanyahu may have greater latitude in his policies.
Trump’s actions against the ICC are not the first time. When the ICC looked into claims of war crimes in Afghanistan by Afghan and US soldiers, as well as atrocities by the Taliban, Obama approved penalties and travel restrictions on ICC officials during his first term.
On Thursday, Trump also issued a second executive order to combat what he described as “anti-Christian bias.”
At an event connected to the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump said, “Today, I’m signing an executive order to make our attorney general—who’s a great person, she’s going to be a great attorney general, Pam Bondi—the head of a task force brand new to eradicate anti-Christian bias,” CNN reported.
