Marco Rubio slams 'radical, extreme' International Criminal Court as Trump admin limits its power over US

The Trump administration has launched a major effort to weaken the International Criminal Court (ICC), making the argument that the organization threatens U.S. sovereignty by attempting to investigate or prosecute American officials and military members.

The administration is seeking to pressure the court and encourage other nations to reduce their cooperation with the international body.

The campaign is being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials, who argue that the ICC does not have legitimate authority over Americans because the United States is not a member of the court. The administration’s push comes during longstanding U.S. opposition to the ICC’s investigations involving American personnel and its recent actions involving U.S. ally Israel.

Rubio revealed the administrations intention on targeting the international body in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and in a video on X. “The U.S. is launching a diplomatic campaign with a simple message — sovereign states over globalism,” Rubio wrote.

“Using all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC — brick by brick, if necessary.”

"The International Criminal Court seeks to become the unaccountable arbiter of a new global law," he said, "empowered to prosecute and arrest our citizens at will and existentially threaten American sovereignty. We will teach the ICC the full meaning of American resolve."

"For 250 years," Rubio said, "Americans have governed ourselves as a free and sovereign people. We choose our own leaders, determine our own laws, and when we're accused of a crime, we stand for judgment before a jury of our own peers. This is the essential and indispensable feature of our form of government. It is the foundation of our shared way of life.

"But today, powerful people in faraway places want to take that away from us. They believe that they should be in charge of your laws, of your country, your life, and they don't care whether or not you agree.

"Halfway across the world, there's an institution that calls itself the International Criminal Court. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't. But chances are you don't know the names of its judges, its prosecutors, or its president, and you shouldn't have to. But as we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, compacts, the force of so-called international law.

"When the ICC was born 24 years ago, they told us that it was merely a narrow backstop, a global court that would step in to prosecute only the gravest offenses, things like genocide and war crimes, and only when a nation's courts were unable to prosecute them on their own, but the truth is, something far more radical and extreme was a global tribunal staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited. The danger of this global court has only continued to grow.

"Today, it threatens every aspect of our political and legal system. Border patrol agents removing violent criminals from our country, American Marines risking their lives to defend our homeland, prosecutors working to dismantle terrorist plots to attack and kill Americans.

"If we stand idle, all of them would be at the mercy of foreign judges thousands of miles away, facing the constant risk of prosecution and even imprisonment for the so-called crime of defending their own country. The American people never agreed to any of this, and they never will. Read the words of our Declaration of Independence.

"We fought a revolution against a foreign power transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses. Independence is our birthright. We will never let foreign bureaucrats take that away from us. This administration will not sit by as the ICC and its allies seek to threaten our people. If they believe they can deprive us of our sovereignty, we will teach them the full meaning of American resolve."

The administration are considering sanctions, visa bans and financial penalties against ICC figures. The current dispute arose after the ICC targeted Israeli officials. Washington has urged allies to reduce cooperation with the court. The ICC judges argue U.S. sanctions threaten the court’s independence as they seek authority over Americans.

Previous U.S. administrations have also criticized the court notably George Bush particularly over investigations involving American military actions abroad. The administration’s latest campaign represents one of the strongest U.S. challenges to the ICC in the court’s history.

The ICC, located in the Netherlands, was established in 2002 and is the only permanent international court that has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes against humanity. It has no authority under US law.
 

The ICC has targeted the United States before with its Afghanistan investigation becoming a major point of tension between the court and the United States. The investigation examined alleged war crimes committed during the Afghanistan War, including claims involving U.S. personnel.

While the ICC investigation covered a broad range of alleged abuses, no official cases had been opened against U.S. officials at the time of the report. The dispute contributed to the Trump administration’s decision to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on ICC officials involved in the investigation.