Trump Targets International Criminal Court With ‘Sweeping Sanctions’ After Vow to Defend Netanyahu

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The White House is gearing up to hit the International Criminal Court with “sweeping sanctions,” months after President Donald Trump said his administration is aiming to dismantle the organization in order to “defend” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from bogus charges.

Trump’s big move against the ICC: forbidding it from making transactions in U.S. dollars, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday. The Trump admin would block most transactions with the ICC after a grace period of about six months — a move which could “potentially cripple” the court and isolate it from the global financial system, according to the report.

It is unclear when the final call on the sanctions will be made and when they would go into effect, the report added, but a decision could come as early as this week.

Sunday’s report comes two months after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he was going to “dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty.”

“The ICC poses an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty – it claims the authority to prosecute and even imprison American servicemen and officials operating on behalf of America’s national interest,” Rubio said in July. “Americans never signed up for this, and all American presidents since the ICC’s ratification have maintained that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Americans. The ICC previously opened an investigation into U.S. servicemen and intelligence officers and has since refused to close these cases.”

And soon after returning to office in 2025, Trump imposed sanctions against the ICC for engaging “in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”

The U.S. and Israel are two of the countries which have not ratified The Rome Statute, which establishes membership in the ICC. The court issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu in 2024, claiming he bears “criminal responsibility” for the Gaza War.

Trump has defended Netanyahu several times since then, saying the prime minister will not be arrested on his watch — even when American politicians like NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani have called for it. The president also said in July that Rubio’s push to defang the ICC was meant to help Netanyahu, not himself.

“[Rubio] is not trying to defend me. He’s trying to defend Bibi and various other people,” Trump said. “But there are many people that shouldn’t be looked at that way. But there is no indication that I’m one of them at this moment.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!