The Trump administration is preparing sweeping sanctions against the International Criminal Court that could restrict most of the Hague-based tribunal’s financial transactions and potentially cut it off from much of the global banking system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials and documents.The measures would take effect after a six- to seven-month grace period and could prevent the court from conducting transactions in US dollars, according to the report. Transactions involving communications services would be exempt.Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson pointed to Ssecretary of stateMarco Rubio’s view that the ICC threatens US sovereignty.The administration could finalise the measures as early as this week, during the UN General Assembly in New York, or in the days that follow, according to the Journal.The proposed sanctions would go beyond existing US measures, which have targeted individual ICC officials including former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, ICC President Tomoko Akane, judges, deputy prosecutors and the prosecutor who led the case against Israeli officials.Washington’s confrontation with the court intensified after the ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza war. Both have rejected the allegations.Rubio said in July that the administration would pursue a broad campaign against the court and would dismantle it “brick by brick” if necessary. He has argued that the ICC overstepped its authority by pursuing officials from countries that are not members of the court, including the United States and Israel.The US and Israel are not members of the ICC.The administration’s position has drawn attention to Rubio’s earlier stance on the court. As a US senator in 2022, he co-sponsored a resolution supporting an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine committed by Russia, another non-member state. The ICC later issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.European countries and other major ICC supporters, including Japan, have pledged to defend the court against US pressure, although it remains unclear what measures they could take to shield its operations from the proposed sanctions.
