On Thursday, President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what he described as “illegitimate and baseless” investigations targeting the United States and its ally, Israel. According to the White House, Trump signed an executive order accusing the court of abusing its power by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had met with Trump earlier in the week.
The sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans for ICC officials, employees, and their families, as well as anyone involved in the court’s investigations. The identities of those affected were not immediately disclosed, but previous sanctions under Trump had targeted the court’s prosecutor.
The executive order criticized the ICC for conducting what Trump called “illegitimate and baseless” actions, particularly investigations into alleged war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Israeli forces in Gaza. Notably, both the United States and Israel are not members of the court.
The Netherlands, where the ICC is based, expressed regret over the sanctions, with Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp stating that the court’s work is vital in the fight against impunity.
The sanctions followed Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, during which Trump unveiled a controversial plan for the U.S. to “take over” Gaza and relocate Palestinians to other countries in the Middle East. Legal experts and the United Nations have condemned the plan as illegal under international law, with forcible displacement considered a crime under the ICC’s Rome Statute.
The ICC’s actions included issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, for war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Gaza war. Netanyahu has accused the court of anti-Semitism.
During his first term, Trump imposed sanctions on the ICC’s then-prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, in response to her investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Although the Biden administration lifted those sanctions in 2021, the legal tensions over ICC investigations continue.
