US updates: ICC says it is undeterred by Trump sanctions

Over 100 Indians were recently deported from the US on a military aircraft as part of the Trump administration's deportation drive.

DW spoke to two men who tried to reach the US, only to be sent back in handcuffs.

Read the full story here.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized US President Donald Trump's decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Sanctions are the wrong tool. They jeopardize an institution that is supposed to ensure that the dictators of this world cannot simply persecute people and start wars, and that is very important," Scholz said.

The chancellor made the comments at a campaign event ahead of snap elections scheduled for February 23.

Germany is regarded as one of the biggest supporters of the ICC.

Last year, Scholz's government said it was "examining" whether it would be obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to enter German territory after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him.

The United Nations called on the US to reverse a decision to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"We deeply regret the individual sanctions announced yesterday against court personnel, and call for this measure to be reversed," UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in comments to the AFP news agency.

"The court should be fully able to undertake its independent work — where a state is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution," Shamdasani said.

"The rule of law remains essential to our collective peace and security."

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the court for what he described as "baseless" investigations targeting the United States and Israel.

China's Foreign Ministry condemned what it referred to as Washington's "Cold War mentality" after a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to several Latin American countries.

During his tour, Rubio reiterated US President Donald Trump's position that Washington could take over the Panama Canal in order to counteract Chinese influence in the region.

Rubio's comments "[are] steeped in Cold-War mentality and ideological bias, are unfounded accusations against China aimed at sowing discord between China and relevant [Latin American and Caribbean] countries," a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said.

Beijing insisted it did not seek "zero-sum" relationships with countries in the Western Hemisphere, but rather ones based on "mutual benefit" and "win-win cooperation." It accused the US of geopolitical "hegemonism" and said that China would not "target any third party" in Latin America.

"China supports Panama’s sovereignty over the Panama Canal and is committed to upholding the Canal’s status as a permanently neutral international waterway. China has never participated in managing or operating the Canal, and never ever has China interfered," the ministry said, adding that it considered Trump's accusations of Chinese control over the canal to be "groundless."

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued a blistering critique of US President Donald Trump's executive order sanctioning the body.

"The ICC condemns the issuance by the US of an Executive Order seeking to impose sanctions on its officials and harm its independent and impartial judicial work," a statement issued by the court read.

The statement, which promised that the ICC would continue to provide "justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world," continued with a plea to allies: "We call on all our 125 states parties, civil society and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights."

Established in 1998, the ICC is an international tribunal tasked with prosecuting individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Whereas Israel praised US President Donald Trump's decision to level sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday, the head of the European Council condemned the move.

"I strongly commend @POTUS President Trump's executive order imposing sanctions on the so-called 'international criminal court,'" wrote Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on X. 

Saar said the ICC's actions against Israel were "immoral and have no legal basis."

European Council President Antonio Costa, however, slammed the move calling Trump's sanctions a threat to the world's judicial systems."Sanctioning the ICC threatens the Court's independence and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole," Costa wrote on X.

When Trump signed the order on Thursday, he said the ICC had "abused its power" when it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's war in Gaza, slamming the court for what he called "illegitimate and baseless" investigations of the US and Israel.

Trump's executive order froze the assets of and placed travel bans on ICC officials and their families, as well as anyone thought to have aided ICC investigations.

The court itself issued a statement condemning the move on Friday morning.

Unions representing government workers have sued the Trump administration for its efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development.

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US Attorney General Pam Bondi has disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force, a unit focused on probing violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), requiring such agents to register with US authorities.

Bondi said it was necessary to disband the task force in order to "free resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion."

Bondi has also disbanded Task Force KleptoCapture, an initiative started in 2022 to enforce sanctions on Russia and seizing assets of Russian oligarchs.

Moscow was accused of attempting to influence the 2016 US presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.

Russia has denied involvement and the 448-page Mueller Report, made public in April 2019, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring any conspiracy or coordination charges against Trump or his associates regarding the claims of Moscow interference.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) was ordered by the United States to halt dozens of US-funded grants, according to an email seen by the news agency Reuters.

This freeze occurred despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio's issuing a waiver for emergency food assistance.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) grants, at various stages of progression, are worth tens of millions of dollars to impoverished countries such as Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Haiti and Mali.

Some of the grants that have been frozen are a part of the Food for Peace Title II program, which spends around $2 billion (€1.93 billion) per year on the donation of US commodities.

The Senate has confirmed Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

The OMB is the entity at the center of an effort to put a stop to federal funding for aid programs.

He was approved by a vote of 53-47 over strong opposition from Democrats in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described Vought as "one of the most fringe and hard-right individuals the Senate has seen in a very long time."

Vought served in the same role during Trump's first administration. In this period he issued a memo barring the use of taxpayer funds for anti-racism training.

Last week, the OMB issued an order that froze trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants and other assistance.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday placing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "baseless" investigations targeting the United States and Israel, the White House said.

The order states that the ICC had "abused its power" by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held talks with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

The arrest warrant stems from Netanyahu's actions toward Palestinians in Gaza after the Hamas attack against Israel in October 2023. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, Israel and others.

The ICC's actions set a "dangerous precedent," according to the order. Among the sanctions is the banning of ICC officials from entering the United States.

Israel is a "close ally" of Washington's, the order states, adding that the ICC had used "illegitimate and baseless actions" before issuing the arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

Neither the US nor Israel are members of or recognize the Hague-based court.