The US State Department has announced a campaign aimed at “dismantling” the International Criminal Court, historically accused by Washington of threatening US sovereignty
The Trump administration is serious about the ICC. “Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a broad campaign to dismantle the threat the International Criminal Court poses to U.S. sovereignty,” the U.S. State Department said Monday. “The campaign involves a coordinated, whole-of-government response to systematically neutralize the ICC’s ability to operate, to target American military or officials, or to otherwise threaten American sovereignty,” he added. “Nations that refuse to reject the false authority of the International Criminal Court, while continuing to rely on US assistance, risk being subjected to increased scrutiny,” a US State Department official also said. In particular, according to Rubio, the ICC is “supported and run by a powerful network of left-wing non-governmental organizations, arrogant globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the United States.”
There was no shortage of reactions to the US move. “Although the International Criminal Court is a separate organization from the Secretariat and the United Nations, it remains for us a fundamental element of the international justice system,” the UN said. “We, as the European Union, firmly support the International Criminal Court and the principles enshrined in the Rome Statute and respect their independence and impartiality,” Brussels said for its part.
Founded in 2002 on the basis of the State of Rome, the International Criminal Court is based in The Hague and is responsible for prosecuting individuals for international crimes, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In recent years, the body has issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. The point is that numerous countries do not recognize the Court’s jurisdiction, including Israel, Russia, China, India and, indeed, the United States, which historically consider the body to be detrimental to their national sovereignty.
The first Trump administration had already had tense relations with the ICC. Joe Biden, for his part, welcomed the arrest warrant for Putin, while instead defining the request for the one for Netanyahu as “outrageous”. Then, since Trump returned to the White House, relations with the body have become even more turbulent. In February 2025, the current American president signed an executive order, imposing sanctions on the Court. “The United States unequivocally opposes, and expects its allies to oppose, any ICC action against the United States, Israel, or any ally of the United States that has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” the decree read. The following August, the US State Department imposed additional sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors of the Court.
The hard line against the ICC is also part of the Trump administration’s broader strategy aimed at protecting the sovereignty of the United States against the exploitation of international law.
