Trump administration renews pressure on International Criminal Court

The US says it volition cull immoderate effort by tribunal to asseverate authorization implicit citizens, days aft 3 ICC judges writer implicit sanctions.

The medication of United States President Donald Trump has erstwhile again denounced the International Criminal Court (ICC), pledging that immoderate effort to asseverate authorization implicit US citizens would beryllium considered a “direct affront” against the country’s sovereignty.

The statement, made successful a missive to ICC president Tomoko Akane, did not incorporate immoderate caller argumentation positions, but it represented the latest rhetorical salvo against the planetary court.

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“The ICC has acted successful an progressively lawless and illegitimate manner,” Todd Blanche, the acting US lawyer general, wrote successful the letter, which was released to the nationalist connected Thursday but is dated June 29.

The US is not a enactment to the Rome Statute, the court’s founding document, and the state is truthful not taxable to the court’s jurisdiction.

But critics person argued that US actions connected the ungraded of signatory countries could effect successful ICC proceedings.

Both Democratic and Republican administrations person rejected immoderate investigations that could ensnare US citizens, though immoderate presidents person offered tacit enactment for the court.

Still, the Trump medication has taken a peculiarly hard enactment with the court, launching a raft of sanctions against the tribunal and its apical prosecutors. Those measures person extended to immoderate radical oregon organisation that immunodeficiency successful investigations of US citizens and allies.

In October, for instance, the Trump medication utilized its ICC sanctions to levy economical penalties against three Palestinian rights groups accused of participating successful the court’s investigations of Israeli crimes.

Trump had antecedently issued an enforcement bid successful February 2025 explaining that the sanctions connected the ICC were a effect of tribunal “actions” targeting “America and our adjacent state Israel”.

In November 2024, the ICC issued apprehension warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and erstwhile Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for warfare crimes committed during Israel’s genocidal warfare successful Gaza. It besides issued warrants for respective apical Hamas officials who person since been killed.

Israel is besides not a enactment to the Rome Treaty — though Palestine is — and it has rejected the court’s authority.

In Thursday’s letter, Blanche accused the ICC of pursuing “investigations that look driven arsenic overmuch by governmental unit and organization self-interest arsenic by ineligible merit”.

He besides reaffirmed the US presumption that the tribunal could not prosecute US citizens successful its investigations.

“The ICC has nary jurisdiction implicit U.S. persons — anyplace successful the satellite — and immoderate effort to asseverate specified authorization is illegitimate, unlawful and a nonstop affront to the sovereignty of the United States,” Blanche wrote.

It was not instantly wide wherefore Blanche chose to nonstop the missive this week.

Court officials did not publically respond to the letter, but the judicial assemblage has repeatedly stood by its investigations.

The missive was published aft 3 ICC judges filed a lawsuit successful a Manhattan national tribunal against the Trump administration’s sanctions.

The judges argued that, by imposing the sanctions, the Trump medication sought to exert extrajudicial unit connected the court, with the nonsubjective of punishing and coercing the judges.

The missive besides comes months aft New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani suggested helium would usage section authorities to apprehension Netanyahu if helium visited the city.

Netanyahu has said helium volition inactive sojourn the metropolis successful the future, contempt the threat.