In one of the sharpest US-Court clashes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign to 'dismantle' the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday, July 13.

He said the tribunal interfered with US military and law enforcement operations at the risk of American sovereignty.In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Rubio invoked images of border patrol agents and elected leaders being tried by judges from around the world. In an accompanying video on X, he said, "If we stand idle, all of them will be at the mercy of foreign judges, thousands of miles away – facing the constant risk of prosecution and even imprisonment for the so-called 'crime' of defending their own country."

The move isn't unexpected. The US never ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, and drafted the American Servicemembers' Protection Act (ASPA) to shield US military and government officials from prosecution by a court it isn't party to.

The Clinton administration signed the Rome Statute in 2000 but never submitted it for Senate ratification; the Bush administration formally withdrew the signature in 2002. In 2020, the ICC opened an investigation into alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan, after which the first Trump administration sanctioned ICC judges and senior officials — sanctions the Biden administration later lifted.

Tensions escalated again in November 2024, when the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including murder and starvation. The US responded by freezing the assets of a dozen ICC officials, including judges and the chief prosecutor.

The campaign will involve pressuring other countries to leave the court. Rubio said the US will use every tool available — including travel bans and sanctions — against countries that refuse to "reject the ICC's false authority." Rights groups called Rubio's announcement a bid for impunity as Hague tribunal's decades-long standoff with Washington reached a breaking point.

"The ICC is not claiming jurisdiction over conduct in the United States," Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, told The Guardian. "Rubio is dressing up his quest for impunity for American war crimes under the label of national sovereignty, which ignores the sovereign right of other nations to invoke the ICC for crimes committed on their territory." He added: "Trump wants to be able to commit war crimes on the territory of countries that have accepted the court's jurisdiction – that's what this is about."

According to an unnamed official, top officials — including the secretary, deputy secretary, and US ambassadors — "are calling countries as part of a campaign to diplomatically isolate the International Criminal Court and ensure it cannot target Americans," CNN reported. The ICC has not opened any investigations into crimes committed on American soil.