US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court
The United States has imposed financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court, an escalation the Trump administration framed as a response to what it calls politicization and unfair targeting of Americans over war-crime charges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures in a video posted on X hours after a former ICC judge was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, saying Washington would ban transactions with what he called a rogue court, cut off its resources, and cripple its ability to operate against the United States. Americans, he said, are not subject to the jurisdiction of a “fake ICC”; the United States does not need the court and does not want it. Rubio added that either the ICC will end its threats or the United States will end the ICC.
The court, established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, accused Trump officials of trying to obstruct the course of justice and of assaulting the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order. It warned that history will judge the moment and urged other members to keep the tribunal functioning. Washington has repeatedly condemned ICC arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and an ICC inquiry into US soldiers’ actions in Afghanistan, a case that has since been closed.
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