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The United States has urged its NATO allies to help dismantle the International Criminal Court and withdraw from the treaty that established it, according to diplomats and a document described to Politico, in a campaign that has added fresh strain to the transatlantic alliance.
At a closed-door meeting of NATO's 32 ambassadors in Brussels in mid-July, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker asked member states to help take apart the tribunal and called on them to leave its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, according to three NATO diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Whitaker closed his remarks with a warning, the diplomats said: "We will be watching closely who stands with America."
A paper circulated by the US mission to NATO around the same time laid out the campaign in blunt terms. "The United States will systematically dismantle the capabilities of the ICC … we firmly request that you immediately take steps to withdraw," the document stated, adding, "Let us end the charade of the ICC once and for all."
The paper also pressed allies to "examine the threat" the court poses to their own countries, to "publicly condemn" what it called the court's "overreach," and to halt immediately any material support they provide to the tribunal. American officials raised the issue again in bilateral talks with individual European governments, two of the diplomats said.
NATO itself is not a party to the Rome Statute, but every member of the alliance except the United States and Türkiye has signed it.
The demand caught some allies off guard. One NATO diplomat described Whitaker's comments as "quite shocking," while a second called the intervention "disappointing." France and the Netherlands spoke up in defense of the court, according to the diplomats.
The French delegation declined to comment directly but pointed to what it called France's unwavering support for the ICC. The Dutch delegation referred to comments from Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, who said the Netherlands fully supports the institution.
The ICC itself responded to the pressure campaign by emphasizing its independence. A spokesperson for the court said it remains focused on carrying out its mandate impartially and in accordance with the Rome Statute, and described the tribunal as "steadfast and resilient" in the face of attempts to frustrate its work.
The push against the ICC was launched this summer by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has accused the court of infringing on American sovereignty.
On July 13, Rubio said the court and its allies were "waging a war against our country not with bullets or missiles but with statutes, compacts and the force of so-called international law," and warned that "if they believe they can deprive us of our sovereignty, we will teach them the full meaning of American resolve."
The campaign has already produced concrete measures. In February 2025, the White House issued an executive order declaring a national emergency over ICC actions targeting the United States and Israel. Washington has since sanctioned several court personnel, including ICC President Tomoko Akane, and nine of the court's 18 judges.
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