The Donald Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, escalating Washington’s confrontation with the global war crimes tribunal and putting it on a collision course with European allies.
Reuters reported that the sanctions could have far-reaching implications for the court by restricting companies from providing services to the institution. The move goes beyond earlier US measures targeting individual ICC prosecutors and judges, potentially affecting its access to banking, insurance, software and other essential services.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision, saying the administration would not allow the court to prosecute American citizens. “President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Rubio said in a statement reviewed by Reuters ahead of the official announcement.
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He described the tribunal as a rogue court and said Washington would prohibit transactions with the institution to cut off its resources and cripple its ability to function.
The US has long opposed the ICC’s actions, particularly arrest warrants issued against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Washington has also objected to an earlier investigation into the conduct of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court has since closed.
Founded in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It has 125 member countries, including all European Union nations and all NATO members except the United States and Turkey. The court is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.
The sanctions came hours after Pillay, a South African jurist, was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in international criminal justice. She served as a judge in the ICC’s Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008.
The Nobel committee said the award was intended to issue a reminder at a time when judges and institutions of international law were facing political attacks.
An international legal system that holds war criminals accountable and delivers justice to victims of abuse is essential for a peaceful world, the committee said.
The timing of Washington’s announcement places the sanctions in sharp contrast with the Nobel committee’s emphasis on international accountability and the protection of legal institutions.
Rubio said the sanctions had been structured to give the ICC and its member countries an opportunity to address Washington’s concerns. A senior State Department official told Reuters that the US Treasury would issue licences to protect American interests, suggesting that certain activities could receive temporary exemptions.
The administration said it had delayed the action in the hope that the court and countries party to the Rome Statute would resolve the dispute, but those efforts had failed.
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“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” Rubio said, adding that Washington expected its allies to rein in the court.
Meanwhile, ICC officials have spent months preparing for possible sanctions, including shifting office computers away from Microsoft software to open-source alternatives and making arrangements for banking and health insurance.
The court’s registrar, Osvaldo Zavala Giler, had urged the European Union to prepare a blocking mechanism to shield European countries from the effects of US sanctions.
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