Trump imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump approved economic and travel sanctions aimed at individuals involved in International Criminal Court investigations concerning U.S. citizens or allies like Israel, reiterating a measure from his first term. On Friday, the ICC denounced the sanctions and urged its 125 member nations to back its personnel.

“The court remains steadfast in its support for its staff and commits to persistently offering justice and hope to countless innocent victims of atrocities globally, in every case presented to it,” the statement read.

Trump’s action coincided with a trip to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who – along with his ex-defense minister and a head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas – is sought by the ICC regarding the conflict in the Gaza Strip. It was uncertain how soon the U.S. would disclose the names of those sanctioned. In 2020, under the first Trump administration, Washington placed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and a senior aide due to the ICC’s inquiry into purported war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The sanctions involve freezing any American assets of the designated individuals and prohibiting them and their families from traveling to the United States. The Netherlands, the country hosting the court in The Hague, expressed its regret over the sanctions.

The ICC is a lasting tribunal capable of prosecuting individuals for war offenses, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression against the territory of member countries or by their citizens. The United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not part of the membership. Trump issued the executive order after Senate Democrats last week prevented a Republican initiative aimed at establishing a sanctions framework against the war crimes tribunal.