Trump imposes sanctions on ICC over war crimes probe, calls actions “illegitimate”

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In a renewed offensive against the International Criminal Court (ICC), U.S. President, Donald Trump, has signed an Executive Order imposing financial and visa sanctions on individuals involved in ICC investigations targeting American citizens and allies.

Trump, who accused the court of taking “illegitimate and baseless actions,” is particularly responding to the ICC’s recent issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

New York Parrot reports that this move is a continuation of Trump’s previous clashes with the ICC. During his first term, he imposed sanctions on then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and senior officials in 2020 after she launched an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

At the time, Trump described the ICC as a “kangaroo court,” and while his order did not explicitly mention Israel, his administration was also angered by Bensouda’s 2019 probe into alleged crimes in Palestinian territories.
President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s sanctions upon taking office in 2021, and ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan later deprioritized the U.S. from the Afghanistan investigation, shifting the focus to the Taliban instead.

However, Biden has also strongly opposed the ICC’s latest action against Netanyahu, calling the arrest warrant “outrageous.”

The renewed sanctions highlight the growing bipartisan tension in Washington over the ICC’s role. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to sanction the ICC, but Senate Democrats blocked it, warning that it could backfire on American allies and businesses.

However, many Democrats have also expressed frustration with the ICC’s targeting of Netanyahu.

With Trump’s latest order, the United States once again finds itself at odds with the ICC, raising concerns about its global standing on human rights enforcement while deepening its commitment to shielding key allies from international prosecution.