USA

Trump slams the ICC: ‘A rogue court’. Clash with Europe

The US announcement (and for many, this is no coincidence) came shortly after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navy Pillay, a former judge at the court. Washington had been working for months on the sanctions, which prohibit any dealings with the ICC following a six-month grace period

10 October 2026

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Cpi, Schlein: "Sanzioni inaccettabili, Trump vuole legge più ricco e più forte"

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court and opened a new front in the row with Europe, which has closed ranks in defence of the Hague-based court.

The US announcement (and for many, this is no coincidence) came shortly after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navy Pillay, a former judge at the court. Washington had been working for months on the sanctions, which prohibit any dealings with the ICC following a six-month grace period.

Rubio: ‘Rogue court’

After this deadline, companies that continue to do business with the institution could face sanctions from the US government. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, used strong language to announce the initiative.

In a video lasting just over a minute posted on X, he described the court as a “rogue” tribunal: “We will ban transactions” so as to “cut off its resources and paralyse its operational capacity”. These measures “should encourage our allies within the Court to work towards solutions to put an end once and for all to this threat to US sovereignty. If they fail to do so, we will continue our campaign to dismantle the ICC piece by piece”, warned Rubio, having just returned from a trip to Europe that took him to Iceland, Greece and Portugal – three member states of the Court.

The US decision has been welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes following the operation in Gaza.

Trump, l’Onu e il rischio di abituarsi

Europe stands firm

Europe, on the other hand, has firmly rejected Washington’s move. The European Commission has described the sanctions as “deplorable” and has pledged to ensure that the ICC continues to operate officially. Italia has expressed its opposition to the sanctions and, together with seven other countries, has reaffirmed its confidence in the institution. “We reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality and integrity of the ICC” and “we express our regret and firm opposition to the announcement of the sanctions that the United States intends to impose on the Court”, stated the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italia, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in a joint statement. They emphasised that they would ensure the ICC can continue to function and operate.

Strong condemnation also came from the ICC itself, which described the move as an “attack on the rule of law”: “History will judge this moment”. President Tomoko Akane gave assurances that the court would continue to fulfil “its mandate in full, with independence and impartiality, acting solely on the basis of the law and the evidence, in the interests of the countless victims of serious crimes”. Strong words also came from the UN Secretary-General: the sanctions are “a blow to our collective commitment to international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a fundamental pillar”, said Antonio Guterres.

Cpi, Schlein: "Sanzioni inaccettabili, Trump vuole legge più ricco e più forte"

The conflict has deep roots

The court has been in Trump’s sights for some time. In February 2025, the President had asked government agencies to draw up sanctions against the ICC, which, in his view, had attempted to violate US sovereignty and undermine “the activities of the US government and its allies, including Israel, in matters of national security and foreign policy”. Last July, Rubio had articulated the administration’s intentions, making it clear that its aim was to “systematically neutralise” the court. His words were followed by the imposition of financial sanctions and a ban on the issuance of visas to the court’s judges and prosecutors. The new measures are significantly broader in scope and aim to deliver the decisive blow that Washington seeks to inflict by leveraging sanctions against its allies as well.