Trump administration says US ‘doesn’t need’ ICC after accusing court of unfairly targeting Americans for war crime charges
The United States was accused of launching “an assault” on the world’s legal order after imposing more sanctions on the international criminal court (ICC).
Unveiling the Trump administration’s latest escalation against the court, which it has accused of politicization and unfairly targeting Americans for war crime charges, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, declared: “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”
The ICC accused Donald Trump’s officials of attempting to “obstruct the course of justice” as Rubio, just hours after a former ICC judge was awarded the Nobel peace prize, announced in a video that the US would move to impose financial sanctions.
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us. Because our message is clear: the United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC,” Rubio said in a video posted on X. “We don’t need that court and we don’t want it.”
In a statement, the court warned that “history will judge this moment” and urged other members to ensure it can continue the function. “It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do. It is an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,” the ICC said.
The new set of sanctions will block any assets the ICC has in US jurisdictions and gives US companies or individuals six months to wind down business with the tribunal court.
But the sanctions also allow the ICC to address the US government’s concerns, and certain transactions are exempt.
The Trump administration has repeatedly condemned the ICC for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It also opened an investigation into the actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, although the case has been closed.
The ICC was established in 2002 as an international tribunal to hold countries accountable for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Trump has long targeted the ICC. During his first term, he imposed sanctions on the court, which were later reversed under the Biden administration.
But when Trump returned to office in 2025, he signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC for the court’s investigations into Israelis and Americans. From there, the administration has continued to impose more sanctions.
The administration added sanctions on judges and lawyers at the ICC. In August, it placed additional sanctions on the ICC president, Tomoko Akane.
