"Sovereign states over globalism": Marco Rubio promises a diplomatic offensive to dismantle the ICC
"Using every tool at our government's disposal, working alongside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC, brick by brick if necessary," Rubio wrote in his column.
Marco Rubio during a trip to the Middle East in a file photo
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday a diplomatic campaign by the Trump administration to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the latest dispute between Washington and the Hague-based court. The announcement was made in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal and a video message posted on social media.
"The U.S. is launching a diplomatic campaign with a simple message — sovereign states over globalism," Rubio wrote in his column. "Using all the tools at our government's disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC — brick by brick, if necessary."
The announcement comes after three judges from the court filed a lawsuit in New York last month against the Trump administration, arguing that the sanctions imposed against them are illegal.
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An official from the Department of State told Reuters that diplomatic tools include travel bans, visa revocations, increased sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations, and pressure on other nations to withdraw from the court.
In his video message, Rubio accused the ICC of being "a global tribunal staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited," and in his column, he argued that the body is "backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernment organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S."
The International Criminal Court seeks to become the unaccountable arbiter of a new global law — empowered to prosecute and arrest our citizens at will and existentially threaten American sovereignty.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 13, 2026
We will teach the ICC the full meaning of American resolve. pic.twitter.com/2egHK1jA98
According to the Department of State, allowing the ICC to try Americans "means the death of the U.S. as a sovereign and independent nation."
The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. A total of 125 countries have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court. The United States never ratified it.
In practice, however, there is little chance that the court could bring Americans to trial, as it does not have its own police force and relies on member states to carry out arrests. More than 100 countries have signed agreements with Washington in which they commit not to hand over U.S. citizens to the court.
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