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The Trump administration has prepared sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court (ICC) and plans to announce them soon, according to two sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters, in a move that would sharply escalate Washington's campaign against the global tribunal that prosecutes war crimes and genocide.
The sanctions would prohibit most transactions with the ICC after a grace period of six to seven months, according to documents viewed by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and U.S. officials.
Sources told the Journal the decision could be finalized as soon as this week, during the UN General Assembly session, or in the days that follow.
A State Department spokesman declined to preview any sanctions decisions, though he noted Secretary of State Marco Rubio's view that the ICC poses a threat to American sovereignty.
The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, asserting jurisdiction only when a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes itself.
Trump's opposition to the court dates to his first term and resurfaced after his 2024 re-election, around the same time the ICC issued its arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
Any entity-wide sanctions imposed by the US Treasury would prohibit American citizens and companies from providing funds, goods or services to the court without a license from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to Reuters.
Banks often over-comply with such sanctions given their reliance on access to the U.S. financial system, meaning the measures could effectively cut the ICC off from conducting transactions in dollars and much of the global financial system.
The ICC's registrar and president have previously warned that entity-wide sanctions could affect the court's ability to purchase IT services and insurance, hire investigators, and conduct routine financial transactions such as paying its American employees.
The measures would reportedly exempt transactions related to communications services, according to the documents cited by the Journal.
Washington has already sanctioned numerous ICC personnel under a February 2025 executive order declaring a national emergency over the court's actions concerning the U.S. and Israel.
Those sanctioned include ICC President Tomoko Akane, nine of the court's 18 judges, the court's two deputy prosecutors, the lead prosecutor in the case against Israeli officials, and former Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who was ousted by the ICC in July over sexual assault allegations he has denied.
The planned measures would mark a shift from targeting individual officials to imposing broad restrictions across the organization as a whole.
The campaign follows the ICC's 2024 arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, with the court alleging the two men blocked humanitarian aid from entering Palestinian territory to pressure Hamas, potentially a violation of humanitarian law.
Netanyahu and Gallant have denied the allegations.
Khan had separately sought warrants for Hamas leaders over the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, though those individuals have since been killed.
The ICC has also been investigating Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over their roles in expanding Jewish illegal settlements in the West Bank, which violates international law.
Rubio said in July that the administration was preparing a wide-ranging campaign to dismantle the ICC "brick by brick" if necessary, arguing that the court's pursuit of officials from non-member states set a dangerous precedent threatening U.S. sovereignty.
Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of the court.
Notably, Rubio had taken a different position in 2022, when as a senator he co-sponsored a resolution calling for the ICC to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine, Russia also being a non-member state.
The court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials in 2023.
The sanctions preparation follows a broader diplomatic campaign, reported by Politico, in which the U.S. pressed NATO allies to help dismantle the ICC and withdraw from its founding Rome Statute.
At a closed-door meeting in Brussels in mid-July, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker urged member states to abandon the tribunal and halt all material assistance immediately.
"The United States will systematically dismantle the capabilities of the ICC … we firmly request that you immediately take steps to withdraw," the U.S. Mission to NATO wrote in a diplomatic paper, adding: "Let us end the charade of the ICC once and for all."
Whitaker warned that Washington "will be watching closely who stands with America."
Most NATO members, except the U.S. and Türkiye, are Rome Statute signatories.
European diplomats reacted with strong reservations; one unnamed official called the withdrawal demand "quite shocking," while another termed it "disappointing."
France's delegation affirmed "France's unwavering support for the ICC," and Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said the Netherlands "fully" supports the institution.
An ICC spokesperson said the tribunal "remains focused on carrying out its mandate impartially, independently and in accordance with the Rome Statute," describing itself as "steadfast and resilient" despite efforts to impede its work.
A State Department spokesperson separately told Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) that the department is considering "a wide range of actions" against the tribunal and its supporters, including revoking visas, imposing travel bans on ICC personnel, and expanding sanctions against the institution and affiliated organizations.
The department outlined plans for Rubio, his deputy, ambassadors and senior officials to press foreign capitals to withdraw from the court by highlighting alleged "abuses of the ICC," while warning of "increased scrutiny" for countries that rely on U.S. assistance but decline to reject the court's jurisdiction over American personnel.
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