The United States on Monday announced a campaign against the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the tribunal of posing “an intolerable threat to US sovereignty” and threatening sanctions.
“The ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, compacts and the force of so-called international law,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a video statement.
The State Department said in a statement the campaign will “systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty”.
Relations between US President Donald Trump’s government and the ICC have been extremely poor, with several court officials, including its chief prosecutor, already under US sanctions.
The sanctions bar the officials from entering the United States and block property and financial transactions involving them in the world’s largest economy.
The measures have often focused on ICC investigations involving Israel, a US ally. The court issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others.