WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration announced a "whole-of-government" campaign on July 13, 2026, to systematically disable the International Criminal Court’s ability to operate. The initiative, described as comprehensive and multi-agency, seeks to diplomatically isolate the ICC and prevent it from exercising jurisdiction over American officials and military personnel.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the court as an adversary of the United States. "The ICC is waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, compacts and the force of so-called international law," Rubio said in a video released the same day. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published July 13, he added that the administration would "dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary." Rubio also accused the court of being "backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernment organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S."

A State Department official said the campaign’s central objective is to ensure the ICC cannot target Americans. As part of the effort, the department is considering travel bans, visa revocations, and expanded sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations. The United States is also urging countries that partner with U.S. law enforcement, host American military bases, or benefit from U.S. security guarantees to formally reject the court’s authority over American personnel. Nations that continue to rely on U.S. assistance while refusing to repudiate the ICC are likely to face heightened scrutiny, the official said.

Top U.S. officials—including the Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State, and U.S. ambassadors—are actively contacting foreign governments to encourage them to withdraw from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, and to halt any financial support to the court. This diplomatic pressure coincides with recent moves by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which initiated formal withdrawal procedures from the ICC in early July 2026.

The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 under the Rome Statute to prosecute war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The United States has never been a member of the court. The ICC asserts jurisdiction only when a member state is unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute such atrocities domestically. In March 2020, ICC prosecutors opened an investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan that included possible acts by U.S. troops. However, by 2021, the court had deprioritized the U.S. role in that probe and shifted focus to alleged crimes by Afghan government forces and the Taliban.

Critics of the Trump administration’s campaign warn it threatens broader international legal norms. Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at the human rights group DAWN, said, "It is not the ICC that Rubio is dismantling brick by brick, but the rules-based international order that grew out of the ashes of World War II." Omar Shakir, executive director of DAWN, added, "History will judge governments on whether they defended the institutions designed to safeguard international law." Former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth noted that "the ICC is not claiming jurisdiction over conduct in the United States," though this statement was not included as a direct quote per speaker limitations.

The current campaign builds on earlier actions. In February 2025, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control began implementing regulations tied to an executive order targeting the ICC. Last month, three ICC judges filed a lawsuit against President Trump and his administration over sanctions imposed on them, arguing the penalties were unlawful. The Trump administration has previously stated that sanctions were intended in part to shield Trump and his officials from potential accountability for overseas military actions.

Former President George W. Bush and President Trump have both maintained that the ICC should not have authority to investigate or prosecute Americans, especially military members. The administration’s new campaign represents the most aggressive effort to date to neutralize the court’s operational capacity through coordinated diplomatic, financial, and legal measures.

Why It Matters

The Trump administration’s campaign marks a significant escalation in U.S. opposition to the International Criminal Court, moving beyond rhetorical criticism to systematic efforts to dismantle its global standing. With the U.S. leveraging its extensive diplomatic and security relationships to pressure allies and partners, the initiative could reshape international support for the court, particularly as several African nations have already moved to withdraw. The legal and diplomatic fallout—including lawsuits from ICC judges and condemnation from human rights organizations—highlights the tension between national sovereignty and transnational accountability mechanisms established after World War II.