View of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on Sept. 23, 2026. (Credit: Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP)
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, just hours after it awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to one of its former judges, setting the stage for a diplomatic clash with Washington’s European allies.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan condemned the sanctions, saying they would not prevent the court from continuing its work. The Trump administration has consistently been hostile to the ICC and had already sanctioned some of its prosecutors and judges. The measure announced Friday goes much further, as it could also target companies providing services to the institution itself.
"President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement before the official announcement. "That’s why the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court today. We will ban any transactions with this rogue court, depriving it of resources and crippling its ability to operate," he added.
Khan said these sanctions "must be condemned." "They aim to undermine the rule of law at the international level as well as the work carried out by an independent judicial institution," she said. "We will continue our work in all of our situations, investigations, and prosecutions."
Washington has long protested the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The United States has also criticized the court over an earlier investigation into the actions of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, which has since been closed.
Founded in 2002 to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the ICC has 125 member states, including all European Union and NATO countries except the United States and Turkey. The institution has long enjoyed public support from several member states, including major U.S. allies. Its headquarters are in the Netherlands, which is also an EU and NATO member.
Navi Pillay, the South African jurist awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work in support of international criminal justice, sat on the ICC Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008. In its citation, the Nobel committee said it wanted to "remind" the world of the importance of such justice at a time when "judges and international law institutions are under political attack." "An international legal system in which war criminals are held accountable and victims of abuse obtain justice is a prerequisite for a peaceful world," the committee stressed.
Rubio said the sanctions were designed to allow the court and its member states to address U.S. concerns. Without giving further details, a senior State Department official said the Treasury would issue a series of authorizations to "protect American interests," apparently referring to temporary exemptions from some sanctions.
Limiting the powers of the court
U.S. sanctions generally prohibit U.S.-based companies from working with sanctioned entities. They can force banks to close accounts, insurers to cancel policies, and software publishers to halt cooperation.
During his first term, Donald Trump had already imposed targeted sanctions on ICC officials. These measures were lifted under President Joe Biden. Washington announced new sanctions just days after Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025.
For several months, ICC officials have been preparing for the possibility of sanctions directly targeting the institution. They have started replacing Microsoft software on their desktop computers with open-source solutions, and are putting new arrangements in place for banking operations and health insurance coverage.
Earlier this week, ICC Registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler called on the European Union to be ready to use a so-called "blocking" mechanism that would protect European countries from the extraterritorial effects of U.S. sanctions.
In his statement, Marco Rubio explained that Washington delayed the entry into force of the sanctions, hoping that the ICC and the States Parties to the Rome Statute, its founding treaty, would address U.S. concerns. According to him, those efforts have failed. "Either the ICC ends its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies — many of whom are members of the court and rely on the U.S. military for their defense — to help limit the powers of the court," the secretary of state said.
"We have designed this measure in such a way as to give member states the opportunity to negotiate and propose a solution that addresses our concerns. If these efforts do not succeed, we will continue to adapt our action accordingly," he added.
