US imposes sanctions on ICC, hours after Nobel award to former judge

US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after one of its former judges Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize, putting Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies. The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. Friday’s move would go far further, by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself. “President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement ahead of the official announcement."We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate,” he said.
Washington has long been angry over ICC arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and over a past investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the ICC has since closed. 
Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu praised Washington’s move. “The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty,” Netanyahu’s office posted on X.
The Trump administration previously imposed targeted sanctions on court officials during his first term, which were rescinded under President Joe Biden. Washington announced new sanctions just days after Trump returned to office in January 2025.
Hours later, the Trump administration announced sanctions against the ICC, the court condemned the move as an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order” and urged its 125 member states to defend its independence. “The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it,” the ICC said in a statement, warning that the consequences extended beyond the institution itself.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants against more than 70 people, including political leaders and figures involved in major international conflicts. Those targeted include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu, Hamas figures, former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Charges against Kenyan President William Ruto and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta were withdrawn.
The court, founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, counts 125 countries as  member states, including all EU countries and all members of the NATO alliance apart from the United States and Turkey.