Donald Trump has passed executive orders tonight sanctioning the International Criminal Court and tackling what he describes as “anti-Christian bias” in the US. Listen to the latest episode of The World podcast below.
Thursday 6 February 2025 23:17, UK
That’s all for another day of our live coverage looking at Donald Trump’s first 100 days as US president.
We’ll be back once again tomorrow morning with further updates.
Before we sign off, here’s a rundown of what’s been going on over the last 24 hours:
Trump signed three executive orders yesterday, including sanctioning the International Criminal Court and targeting “anti-Christian bias” in federal government.
He also ordered a review of funding to all non-governmental organisations that rely on federal cash.
In other news:
We’ve just seen Donald Trump sign an executive order which included sanctions on the International Criminal Court (see 21.56 post).
But it’s not the first time the US president has imposed sanctions on the court.
In June 2020, when Trump was three years into his first term as president, he placed sanctions on senior ICC officials as the court investigated whether the US committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
Under the order, the US could block assets of ICC employees and prevent them from entering the country – a move the court said was an attack on justice and the rule of law.
Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the sanctions, which were lifted in April 2021, as “inappropriate and ineffective”.
By Sam Doak and Olive Enokido-Lineham, OSINT producers
Previously, the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Centre (MOC) held primarily migrants picked up by US authorities at sea.
Under new plans, it is set to house thousands of migrants accused of committing crimes, who the Trump administration has branded “the worst of the worst”.
Satellite images captured on 4 February by Planet Labs show preparations at the site on the island of Cuba have been carried out at a rapid pace.
Three areas have been readied for arrivals, with tents springing up across the facility.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been at the White House today for meetings.
Posting on social media site X, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said Zuckerberg was in attendance to “discuss how Meta can help the administration defend and advance American tech abroad”.
Zuckerberg was in attendance at Donald Trump’s inauguration last month, with Meta saying last week it would pay $25m to end a lawsuit from Trump over the suspension of his accounts following the 6 January 2021 riot at the Capitol.
Donald Trump has just signed an executive order targeting “eradicating anti-Christian bias” in the federal government.
“It is the policy of the United States, and the purpose of this order, to protect the religious freedoms of Americans and end the anti-Christian weaponisation of government,” it says.
The order says it will prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism and “work tirelessly to uphold” religious freedom.
It adds that attorney general Pam Bondi will lead a task force on eradicating the “anti-Christian bias” within the federal government.
Trump has not cited specific examples of this bias but has previously claimed the Biden administration used the federal government to target Christians specifically.
It is time to present “other options for the people of Gaza,” Danny Danon, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has said.
Speaking on The World with Yalda Hakim, Danon stated “many leaders around the world” speak on the behalf of Palestinians, but “never came up with real solutions”.
“I think many of the people in Gaza, if they get the offer to go to other places and start a new life, I think many of them would choose that option,” he said.
“It’s about time to think about real solutions, about new out-of-the-box ideas,” he added.
Speaking on what the future of Gaza holds, Danon said Israel has “no intention” to stay in Gaza.
“We went back into Gaza because we had no choice after 7 October,” he explained.
“We have the hostages still held in captivity, but for the future of Gaza, I think it is time to think about other options.
“Hamas will not stay there, and I think we should welcome the involvement of more countries to take real actions for the future of Gaza.”
Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The order includes financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials and their family members found to have assisted in investigations of US citizens or allies.
The order claims the ICC has engaged in “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”,
It says the ICC has “further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants” targeting Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
For context: The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and several Hamas leaders last November.
The court said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign in Gaza – something Israeli officials dismissed as false and antisemitic.
Donald Trump has signed an executive memorandum ordering a review of funding to all non-governmental organisations that rely on federal dollars, according to a White House official.
We’ll bring you more on this story as we get more updates.
Donald Trump’s Gaza plan has elements that need to be taken seriously, even though it is unlikely to lead to peace, a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia has said.
Robert Jordan told our presenter Jayne Secker that the plan has started talk about the future of the enclave and those who live there.
However, he went on to describe Trump’s idea, as it currently stands, as being “out of this universe”.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out how much of it could actually be implemented and how much of it would even be accepted by the states and in the region,” he said.
Jordan explained he was not surprised to see the widespread condemnation of the plan.
“It has many of the elements of ethnic cleansing and the rest of the world has spoken out pretty forcefully on this,” he said.
When asked more specifically on Trump’s direct style, Jordan added many of the nearby states preferred Trump’s election over Kamala Harris.
“I think they do prefer that style. I think they also believe that they have a little more freedom of action, less attention to human rights and more attention to the transactional nature of the president.”
We were expecting to hear from US Speaker Mike Johnson and Benjamin Netanyahu after the two met in Washington.
However, the Israeli prime minster has just left the Capitol without meeting Johnson – who has not yet returned from the White House.
The Speaker has been with his leadership team and key committee chairs for a meeting with Donald Trump on a budget resolution.
Netanyahu did not respond to questions about whether he would still meet Johnson.
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