Trump administration vows to ‘disable’ International Criminal Court

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has escalated its pressure campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), with the US State Department vowing “a whole-of-government response to systematically disable” the tribunal’s ability to operate.

The State Department “campaign” was announced in a news release on Monday, accompanied by a video statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

It comes as the Trump administration has already imposed sanctions on ICC officials and rights groups that have provided evidence to the court, amid wider threats to penalise any entities that aid in investigations into the US or its allies, particularly Israel.

In his video statement, Rubio upped the rhetorical temperature, accusing the court of “waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statues, compacts, and the force of so-called international law”.

“Today, it threatens every aspect of our political and legal system,” he said. “If they believe they can deprive us of our sovereignty, we will teach them the full meaning of American resolve.”

The announcement included few concrete steps, but listed several “actions under consideration”.

They included an appeal to countries that partner with the US military and law enforcement to “reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen”.

It also listed “increased scrutiny of nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance”, as well as “increased sanctions” and travel bans for ICC personnel and affiliated organisations.

The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the founding charter that created the court in 2002, and is therefore not subject to its jurisdiction. However, US citizens can be investigated and potentially prosecuted as part of probes of abuses in countries that are party to the charter, ICC officials have determined.

For instance, the ICC has been investigating alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, including alleged abuses committed by US military and intelligence personnel, since 2020, although no US citizens have yet been prosecuted.

Successive US administrations have maintained that US citizens cannot be prosecuted by the court.