In 2025 US President Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming it has “has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”. It should be noted that Trump’s ally, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is the subject of an arrest warrant from the ICC.

On 13 July 2026 the United States’ Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced a sweeping campaign to dismantle what the Trump administration considers to be the threat posed by the ICC to U.S. sovereignty.

The video below shows Rubio’s statement.

Rubio also wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal accusing the ICC of being “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.”

However the fact is that 125 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute which established the ICC, far more than half of all the 193 countries belonging to the United Nations.

According to a CNN report, a State Department official also said

“Nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance are likely to come under increased scrutiny. [Countries] that partner with US law enforcement, host a US military presence, or benefit from the broader US security umbrella are being called upon to reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen. We will watch with interest which nations join ranks with us against this threat to Americans who are willing to risk their lives to protect others.

“[Top officials] are calling countries as part of a campaign to diplomatically isolate the International Criminal Court and ensure it cannot target Americans. [Countries who are party to the ICC should withdraw from it] and cut off any financial support to the court.

A US State Department spokesperson issued the following note about the campaign.

Today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty. The campaign will feature a whole-of-government response to systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty.

The ICC poses an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty – it claims the authority to prosecute and even imprison American servicemen and officials operating on behalf of America’s national interest. Americans never signed up for this, and all American presidents since the ICC’s ratification have maintained that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Americans. The ICC previously opened an investigation into U.S. servicemen and intelligence officers and has since refused to close these cases.

The ICC now seeks to become the unaccountable global arbiter – positioning itself above and beyond the nation state as a supranational enforcement arm of a globalist bureaucracy empowered to persecute American servicemen and officials at will. No diplomatic option will be off-limits in the campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to Americans.

The campaign will feature a wide range of actions intended to ensure that the International Criminal Court is incapable of threatening U.S. sovereignty or targeting Americans.

Actions under consideration include:

• Diplomatic calls from the Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary, ambassadors, and other members of senior leadership to foreign nations highlighting the abuses of the ICC and the risks posed to Americans and other nations urging them to withdraw from the ICC
• Nations that partner with American law enforcement and the U.S. military or that enjoy the benefits of the U.S. security umbrella are called upon to reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen
• Increased scrutiny of nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on U.S. assistance
• Diplomatic calls urging other nations that, like America, that are not party to the Rome Statute to leverage their diplomatic networks to take similar actions alongside us
• Visa revocations and travel bans for ICC personnel
• Increased sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations