‘A Flagrant Attack’: International Criminal Court Slams Trump Administration Sanctions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits next to President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland on July 31, 2026. —Aaron Schwartz—AFP via Getty Images The International Criminal Court (ICC) said Wednesday that it “deplores” sanctions imposed this week by the U.S.

State Department on its president, Judge Tomoko Akane , and Abdoulaye Seye , a Senegalese senior trial lawyer for the Office of the Prosecutor.

The State Department announced the sanctions Tuesday, accusing Akane and Seye of having “directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.” The sanctions include the freezing of assets in the country, blocking financial transactions, and prohibiting entry to the U.S.

They were imposed under an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump in February 2025, which reads: “The United States unequivocally opposes and expects our allies to oppose any ICC actions against the United States, Israel, or any other ally of the United States that has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.” Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a state party to the Rome Statute , the treaty that founded the ICC and went into effect in 2002, and therefore do not recognize the jurisdiction of the court.

Read More: Trump Administration Vows to Dismantle the International Criminal Court “These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to the mandate conferred by its states parties,” the ICC statement said.

“Such measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff who work towards the fulfilment of the mandate that was conferred to the ICC by states undermine the rule of law.” The Court further warned that the sanctions put “international legal order” at risk.

In his first term, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior official, Phakiso Mochochoko.

These were later lifted under the Biden Administration.

The ICC says that nine of its 18 judges are now under sanctions from Washington, as well as both deputy prosecutors , a former prosecutor, and one other member of staff.

Why does the Trump Administration oppose the ICC? Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the ICC a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court.” He accused it of repeated attempts “to assert authority over nationals of the United States and other countries that have not consented to its jurisdiction or ratified the Rome Statute.” The Trump Administration has long pushed back against the ICC’s investigations and charges against nationals from both the U.S. and Israel.