Trump administration renews pressure on International Criminal Court

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The statement, made in a letter to ICC president Tomoko Akane, did not contain any new policy positions, but it represented the latest rhetorical salvo against the international court. “The ICC has acted in an increasingly lawless and illegitimate manner,” Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, wrote in the letter, which was released to the public on Thursday but is dated June 29. The US is not a party to the Rome Statute, the court’s founding document, and the country is therefore not subject to the court’s jurisdiction. But critics have argued that US actions on the soil of signatory countries could result in ICC proceedings. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have rejected any investigations that could ensnare US citizens, although some presidents have offered tacit support for the court. Still, the Trump administration has taken a particularly hard line with the court, launching a raft of sanctions against the court and its top prosecutors. Those measures have extended to any group or organisation that aids in investigations of US citizens and allies. In October, for instance, the Trump administration used its ICC sanctions to levy economic penalties against three Palestinian rights groups accused of participating in the court’s investigations of Israeli crimes. Trump had previously issued an executive order in February 2025 explaining that the sanctions on the ICC were a result of court “actions” targeting “America and our close ally Israel”. In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed during Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. It also issued warrants for several top Hamas officials who have since been killed. Israel is also not a party to the Rome Treaty — though Palestine is — and it has rejected the court’s authority. In Thursday’s letter, Blanche accused the ICC of pursuing “investigations that appear driven as much by political pressure and institutional self-interest as by legal merit”. He also reaffirmed the US position that the court could not pursue US citizens in its investigations. “The ICC has no jurisdiction over U.S. persons — anywhere in the world — and any attempt to assert such authority is illegitimate, unlawful and a direct affront to the sovereignty of the United States,” Blanche wrote. It was not immediately clear why Blanche chose to send the letter this week. Court officials did not publicly respond to the letter, but the judicial body has repeatedly stood by its investigations. The letter was published after three ICC judges filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court against the Trump administration’s sanctions. The judges argued that, by imposing the sanctions, the Trump administration sought to exert extrajudicial pressure on the court, with the objective of punishing and coercing the judges. The letter also comes months after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani suggested he would use local authorities to arrest Netanyahu if he visited the city. Netanyahu has said he will still visit the city in the future, despite the threat. 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