Trump Administration Prepares Sanctions Against International Criminal Court

Two sources familiar with the matter revealed that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has prepared sanctions targeting the entire International Criminal Court (ICC) and intends to announce them soon. This move escalates the administration's ongoing efforts to undermine the court, which handles war crimes and genocide cases globally.

U.S. officials have expressed a desire for the ICC to drop arrest warrants issued against Israeli leaders and to halt its investigation into American forces in Afghanistan. In July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio initiated a campaign to isolate the court, urging other nations to withdraw. While Washington has previously sanctioned some ICC judges and prosecutors, it has refrained from sanctioning the court itself, despite this option being considered for some time.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials, that the decision could be finalized as early as this week during the United Nations General Assembly meetings. Directly targeting the organization and its collaborators would severely impede the court's operations. Treasury Department sanctions would prohibit U.S. citizens and companies from providing funds, goods, or services to the ICC without a license, potentially impacting daily financial transactions, IT services, insurance, and investigator recruitment, according to the court's registrar and president.

Trump's opposition to the ICC dates back to his first term. The current plan to penalize court officials resurfaced after his re-election in November 2024, following the ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Gaza.

The ICC was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, asserting jurisdiction only when a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute such atrocities itself. The United States has never been a member of the court.