Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that the Trump administration is launching a sweeping diplomatic campaign aimed at dismantling the International Criminal Court, framing the tribunal as a direct threat to American sovereignty and vowing to use every available tool to strip it of influence.
Rubio laid out the effort in a Wall Street Journal op-ed and an accompanying video message, declaring that the campaign carries a simple message, that sovereign states come before globalism, and that the United States will "dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, if necessary." In his video remarks, he went further, describing the tribunal as "a global tribunal staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited."
According to a State Department release published Monday, the campaign will involve a whole-of-government effort to disable the ICC's ability to operate or target American servicemembers and officials. A State Department official told Reuters the diplomatic toolkit includes travel bans, visa revocations and expanded sanctions against the court and affiliated organizations, along with direct outreach from Rubio, his deputy and U.S. ambassadors urging allied nations to withdraw from the court altogether. The State Department also indicated that countries which rely on American security guarantees while declining to reject the ICC's authority over U.S. personnel should expect increased scrutiny going forward.
