President 
Donald Trump's administration has prepared sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court and plans to announce them soon, a move that would step up its campaign against the tribunal that prosecutes war crimes and genocide. The sanctions have been prepared, two sources familiar with the matter said, although the exact timing of an announcement remains unclear. Officials cited by the Wall Street Journal said the decision could be finalized as soon as this week, during the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
What does Washington want from the court? U.S. officials want the ICC to drop its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders as well as a past probe into American troops in Afghanistan, the Japan Times reported. The Trump administration has made no secret of its disdain for the court and has worked to undermine it. In July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign to isolate the court, calling on other countries to withdraw from it. Washington has imposed sanctions on a number of ICC judges and prosecutors but has so far held off from targeting the court itself, although the move has long been considered an option. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What would sanctioning the whole court do? Targeting the entire organization, as well as entities that cooperate with it, could severely undermine the court's work, the Japan Times reported. Entity-wide sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury would bar U.S. citizens and companies from providing funds, goods or services to the court without a license from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Banks often over-comply with such sanctions because they depend on access to the American financial system. The ICC's registrar and president have warned that purchasing IT services and insurance, hiring investigators and everyday transactions such as paying dozens of American employees could be affected.
How far back does the dispute go? Trump's opposition to the court dates to his first term, the Japan Times reported. It surfaced again with a plan to penalize ICC officials, an idea developed in November 2024, when Trump was reelected and the court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, and asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself. The United States has never been a member.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
