US President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize. 

This comes as the US has in recent months made no bones about pursuing what Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court."

The United States and Israel had both strongly opposed the court's arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since 2020 and the back end of Trump's first term, the US had also opposed investigations into military actions in Afghanistan that "deprioritize" alleged US wrongdoings, focusing on the Taliban, but can nevertheless include them.

What did the State Department say about the ICC sanctions?

"President Trump will never allow the International Court to prosecute Americans," Rubio said in a statement. 

"That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate," he said. 

Rubio said that both US political parties had long agreed that the ICC should not have jurisdiction over US citizens, but said "only President Trump" resolved to take action.

"Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American servicemembers for their defense, to rein in the court," Rubio said. "If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, until Americans are threatened no longer."

How did the ICC respond? 

The ICC said the US sanctions aimed to obstruct an independent international court supported by more than half of the UN's members.

"The court will continue to fully discharge its mandate, with independence and impartiality, acting only on the basis of the law and the evidence, for the sake of the countless victims of grave crimes," said ICC President Tomoko Akane, who already faces US sanctions. 

The ICC called the Rome Statute, which underpins membership of the court, a "collective promise" that the most serious international crimes must not go unpunished. 

"That promise is only as strong as the resolve of those who made it," the court said. It appealed to members to take "concrete actions" to ensure the court would still have the necessary means to continue its work.

"No one should be punished for serving the cause of justice," it said. "History will judge this moment. Future generations, and above all the victims of mass atrocities, will ask how we responded when an insitution created to protect them came under attack."

What did other countries say about the US sanctions? 

A collection of US allies that are full members of the ICC including Germany issued a joint statement reaffirming their "continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the ICC."

"As committed supporters of the ICC we regret and strongly disagree with the announcement of sanctions to be imposed upon the Court by the United States," the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK said. 

They said that, despite the ICC's best efforts to prepare and mitigate their effect, the sanctions "will have a significant impact on the Court's work, its dedicated staff and their families."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US government for its "leadership" in issuing the sanctions. 

"The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty," he said.

Sanctions announced shortly after former ICC judge's Nobel Peace Prize

The State Department released the announcement a few hours after the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, who was an ICC judge from 2003 to 2012.

Last year Trump repeatedly complained that he should have won the accolade for promoting world peace, prompting Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to present him with her trophy as a gift. 

Without naming names, the Nobel Committee clearly referenced US sanctions against the ICC when announcing Pillay as this year's laureate.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law  national and international — underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently," the Committee wrote. 

It said judges like Pillay "guard the thin red line between order and chaos," but lamented that "today ... these same judges are sanctioned, and their institutions are attacked."

What is the ICC?

The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal based in the Dutch city of The Hague.

It's the only permanent international court with the theoretical jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and illegal aggression. 

The ICC was established in 2002 and is governed by the Rome Statute.

More than half the countries in the world, 125 in total, are full parties to the Rome Statute, having signed and ratified it. 

Several of the world's most significant powers, including China, India, Israel, Russia and the United States, do not recognize the court's jurisdiction and are not parties to the statute.

A grey area, however, remains since the court accepts challenges from ratified members against individuals from countries that do not recognize it.

That is why high-profile arrest warrants against Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been issued in recent years — following respective complaints from Ukrainians and Palestinians. 

What were the prior signs of Trump administration pressure on the ICC? 

The US has been increasingly critical of the ICC during Trump's second term. 

Rubio has often led the charge. In July, he wrote  an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal saying, "America never agreed to a world tribunal that can override our own courts and the Constitution."

He argued it was possible for US "soldiers, police officers, Border Patrol agents and elected leaders" to be "dragged before an international court" and tried by judges "from random countries across the globe." 

Just over a week later, on July 25, Venezuela's new administration — transformed after the US abduction of Nicolas Maduro in January — announced that it planned to withdraw from the Rome Statute and the ICC. 

A few days later, the military junta in Chad announced that it was withdrawing from the ICC following a US request.

The recent sexual misconduct scandal surrounding the ICC's chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who was dismissed in July, provided more ammunition the US could aim at the court.

In August, the US imposed sanctions on the ICC's president, Japanese judge Tomoko Akane, and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese trial lawyer at the court.

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Edited by: Sean Sinico