Marco Rubio announces financial sanctions against the International Criminal Court

<p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on October 9, 2026, that the Trump administration is imposing financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), an organization the president has sought to dismantle during his second term.</p><p>To date, the administration has sanctioned 17 individuals associated with the ICC, including judges and prosecutors. This action represents the first instance of the U.S. targeting the institution itself.</p><p>Rubio stated in a pre-recorded video message, "Our message is clear: The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC. Both parties agree on this, but only President Trump has the resolve to take the action needed to end this threat once and for all."</p><p>This announcement followed the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a former ICC judge.</p><p>The ICC, based in the Netherlands, condemned the U.S. sanctions, calling them "an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order."</p><p>The ICC added, "This measure targets an independent judicial institution, created by treaty and entrusted by 125 States Parties with investigating and prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do."</p><p>ICC President Tomoko Akane, who was sanctioned by the Trump administration in August, stated that the court will continue to operate despite the new penalties.</p><p>In his announcement, Rubio argued that the ICC believes it has the authority to prosecute American service members operating overseas and U.S. Border Patrol agents. However, there is no evidence that the court has sought to investigate or prosecute Border Patrol agents, although Rubio raised this possibility in July.</p><p>The administration's concerns regarding U.S. personnel are not entirely hypothetical. In 2017, an ICC prosecutor sought authorization to investigate alleged war crimes committed by U.S. military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan.</p><p>Initially, ICC judges rejected the request, but that decision was overturned on appeal in 2020, allowing the investigation to proceed. The court's prosecutor later deprioritized alleged crimes involving U.S. personnel to focus on alleged crimes committed by the Taliban and ISIS-K.</p><p>Under the new sanctions, any ICC assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen, and Americans, U.S. businesses, and banks will generally be barred from conducting transactions with the court.</p><p>The sanctions will not take effect immediately; the Treasury Department has granted the ICC a 180-day general license to maintain its operations, allowing time to address U.S. concerns.</p><p>Rubio stated, "Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. And we expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in this rogue court. If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC piece by piece until Americans are threatened no longer."</p><p>One significant grievance the administration has with the ICC is its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024.</p><p>The ICC argued that both officials were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza during Israel's military response to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in 2023. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.</p><p>In a February 2025 executive order authorizing sanctions against ICC officials, President Donald Trump called the arrest warrants "baseless" and stated that the court overstepped its authority since Israel is not an ICC member.</p><p>The ICC maintains that it can exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-member states when they are accused of qualifying crimes committed on the territory of a state that has accepted the court’s jurisdiction.</p>