The International Criminal Court, established in 2002, is home to approximately 125 member states. The U.S. is not one of them — nor is it likely to become one anytime soon.
Remember this?
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States is sick of their antics and is moving to sanction the president of the body along with a senior attorney:
Last month, I launched a diplomatic campaign to dismantle the ICC’s threat to our national sovereignty. The Trump Administration is sanctioning ICC President Tomoko Akane and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye in our unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court. In honor of our Declaration of Independence, Americans will never be transported beyond seas to be tried for pretend offenses.
Rubio explained his decision in a statement posted to the department’s website.
The Trump Administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate. We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty…
The ICC has repeatedly attempted to assert authority over nationals of the United States and other countries that have not consented to its jurisdiction or ratified the Rome Statute. This sets a dangerous precedent for all nations.
In fact, the administration is prepared to make further moves because the administration wants to see the court completely “dismantled,” Rubio said.
Our whole of government campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to national sovereignty will be sweeping and we expect more countries to join our campaign by ending their funding and participation in this politicized and unaccountable court. The ICC’s ability to target American nationals and those of other non-States Parties must end. The Trump Administration stands ready to take additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the ICC until it is incapable of threatening American sovereignty.
Rubio and the administration are appalled by the arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes in Gaza and the court’s investigating the U.S. for the same thing in Afghanistan. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published in July, the secretary said the court was “backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernment organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S.”
The sanctions aren’t meaningless — they involve asset freezes, travel bans, and restrictions that cut off access to the U.S. financial system
The message is clear: nobody has authority over United States sovereignty, and we’re going to keep it that way.