Washington DC - On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to penalize foreign countries that illegally detain US travelers.

According to NBC News, the order – titled Strengthening Efforts to Protect US Nationals from Wrongful Detention Abroad – will allow Secretary of State Marco Rubio to impose sanctions, visa restrictions, or other punishments against countries the Trump administration designates as a "state sponsor of wrongful detention."

The order also seeks to penalize countries that support non-state actors or terrorist groups that hold Americans hostage within their borders.

"We are drawing a very clear delineation today, a line in the sand," an administration official told the outlet.

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"You will not use Americans as bargaining chips."

A 2024 report from the Foley Foundation found at least 54 Americans detained or held hostage across 17 countries, including China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.

The State Department recently designated those countries, along with Afghanistan and Burma, as Level 4 due to their high risk of wrongful detention, and has advised US citizens not to travel to them.

In an X post, Rubio praised the order as an "unprecedented action," and promised that offenders will face "severe consequences."

The order is not "unprecedented," as Trump's predecessor, former President Joe Biden, signed a similar one in July 2022 that declared the issue a national emergency. Biden also threatened visa bans and sanctions against offenders.