Trump orders sanctions to halt war crimes probe of U.S. troops

Patrick Semansky/AP 

President Trump said on Thursday that he signed an executive order to order sanctions against workers on the International Criminal Court who are investigating American troops or U.S. allies — who say they may be involve in a probe of the Afghanistan war.

In March, the internationals court’s appeals chamber opened an investigation into possible Afghanistan war crime between 2003 and 2014 that include alleged actions by Afghan government forces, Taliban, and U.S. troops.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed in a statement that the court is corrupt and that the U.S. is being targeted and threatened.

"The International Criminal Court’s actions are an attack on the rights of the American people and threaten to infringe upon our national sovereignty...in practice it has been an unaccountable and ineffective international bureaucracy that targets and threatens United States personnel as well as personnel of our allies and partners," McEnany said.

The president also declared a national emergency regarding the “threat” he claims the International Criminal Court poses.