Trump administration launches effort to isolate International Criminal Court

President Trump, other US ​officials say the ICC should not have the authority ​to investigate and prosecute Americans

The Trump administration is launching an effort to dismantle what it calls the threat ‌to US sovereignty by the International Criminal Court, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

President Donald Trump and others in Washington, such as former President George W. Bush, have long said the ICC should not have the authority to investigate and prosecute Americans, particularly members of the military. Reuters found the Trump administration backed sanctions against ICC officials in part to head off any future attempts to hold the Republican ​president or his officials accountable for US military action overseas.

In a statement, the State Department said the campaign would employ a “whole-of-government response to systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty."

In a video message posted on Monday, Rubio said the ICC was initially intended to prosecute only the ​gravest offenses, but had turned out to be "something far more radical and extreme," adding that the Trump administration would not allow the ⁠court to threaten US personnel.

The International Criminal Court seeks to become the unaccountable arbiter of a new global law — empowered to prosecute and arrest our citizens at will and existentially threaten American sovereignty.

We will teach the ICC the full meaning of American resolve. pic.twitter.com/2egHK1jA98

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 13, 2026

A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters earlier that a wide range of options is under consideration to target the ICC, including ​travel bans, visa revocations, increased sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations, and diplomatic pressure on other nations to withdraw from the ICC.

"No diplomatic option will be off-limits in the campaign ​to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to Americans," the State Department said in a statement.

ICC spokesperson Oriane Maillet said the court would not comment on the matter at this stage.

Read: US sanctions two more ICC judges over Israel probe

The ICC was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. It asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself. The United States ​has never been a member of the court. However, the ICC statute also gives the court the power to prosecute atrocity crimes committed on the territory of member states by ​nationals of non-member states.

Trump's opposition toward the court goes back to his first term. It manifested again with a plan to penalise ICC officials, an idea developed in November 2024 when Trump was re-elected ‌and the ⁠ICC issued an arrest warrant for his ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Last month, three International Criminal Court judges sued Trump and his administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures were unlawful.

Diplomatic campaign

Rubio, in an opinion article for the Wall Street Journal on Monday, cited calls from activists and others for the court to prosecute US personnel, including over the Trump administration's deportation of migrants or US strikes on boats that officials say are carrying narcotics.

Read more: ICC bureau says Karim Khan should be fired for inappropriate sexual relationship

“As we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our ​country, not with bullets and missiles, but ​with statutes, compacts, and the force of ⁠so-called international law," he said in his video message, asserting that Border Patrol agents, Marines and prosecutors working on terrorism cases could face prosecution by the court.

The court has taken no steps to investigate US personnel in recent years.