US imposes sanctions on ICC, hours after Nobel award to former judge

US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize, putting Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies.

The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. Friday’s move would go far further, by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself.

“President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement reviewed by Reuters ahead of the official announcement.

“That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate.”

Washington has long been angry over ICC arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and over a past investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the ICC has since closed.

The court, founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, counts 125 countries as member states, including all EU countries and all members of the NATO alliance apart from the United States and Turkey.

It has received strong public backing in the past from member countries including major US allies, and is based in the Netherlands, an EU and NATO member.

Netanyahu praised Washington’s move.

“The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty,” Netanyahu’s office posted on X.

Navi Pillay, the South African jurist who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work in international criminal justice, served as a judge on the ICC’s Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008. In its citation, the prize committee said it had sought to “issue a reminder” at a time when “judges and institutions of international law are under political attack.”

“An international legal system in which war criminals are held to account and the victims of abuse see justice served is a precondition for a peaceful world,” the committee said.

Rubio said the sanctions had been structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns.

He did not provide further details, but a senior State Department official said the US Treasury would issue a set of licenses “to protect American interests,” an apparent reference to temporary exemptions to some sanctions.

US expects allies to ‘rein in the court’

US sanctions typically bar all US-based companies from any work with a sanctioned organization, forcing banks to shut accounts, insurers to end coverage and software companies to halt cooperation.

The Trump administration previously imposed targeted sanctions on court officials during his first term, which were rescinded under President Joe Biden. Washington announced new sanctions just days after Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Court officials have been preparing for months for the prospect of sanctions on the court itself, shifting office computers from Microsoft software to open-source equivalents and making new arrangements for banking and health insurance.

The court’s registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler called earlier this week for the EU to be prepared to use a so-called “blocking mechanism” that lets it shield European countries from the extraterritorial effects of sanctions.

In his statement, Rubio said the United States had delayed its sanctions, hoping that the ICC and the countries party to its founding Rome Statute would address US concerns, but they had failed to do so.

“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in the court,” Rubio said.

“We have structured this action to provide an opportunity for States Parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our concerns. If these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly,” Rubio said.

ICC urges members to support it

The court strongly rejected the sanctions and called on its member states to make sure it can continue to function.

“It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do. It is an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,” the court said in a statement.

The court said it would continue to “fully discharge its mandate.”

But it said it would not be able to do so on its own, and called on its members, which do not include the United States, to make sure it has the means necessary to operate.

“The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it,” it said.

“This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law. History will judge this moment.”

The European Union said it was ready to take any necessary measures to enable the ICC to carry out its work even after the US imposes sanctions.

The Commission said it still saw room for dialogue, however, since there is a six-month delay before the sanctions are applied.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the US announcement was deeply concerning. He said Norway, together with other countries, was continuously assessing how best to support and protect the ICC in the situation it now faces, and whether it was possible to prevent the sanctions from actually being imposed.

The foreign ministers of several European countries, as well as Canada and Japan, reaffirmed their unwavering support for the court.

“If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court’s work, its dedicated staff and their families,” said the ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Britain.

“They work every day to bring those accused of the most serious international crimes to justice and to support their victims.”

Rights group Amnesty International slammed the US “attack” on the court, calling on countries to “resist.”

Trump’s “sanctions are designed to isolate and ultimately destroy the International Criminal Court,” Amnesty’s Erika Guevara Rosas said in a statement. “This existential attack must fail. States must take concrete action to resist the imposition of these measures.”