The order includes visa restrictions and financial penalties for people who help the ICC investigate US citizens and US allies.
Background
The International Criminal Court (ICC) can prosecute people worldwide for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. 125 nations are member of the Court,[3] but neither the US nor Israel have chosen to become members.[4] During Trump's first presidency, he imposed sanctions against the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and one of her associates, as punishment for investigating possible US war crimes in Afghanistan.[3]
In November 2024 the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yoav Gallant, who at the time was the Israeli defense minister. Israel and the United States opposed the decision. In the week prior to this executive order, the Republican majority in the US Senate tried to pass sanctions against the ICC, but was blocked by Democratic senators.[3]
A month prior to the order, the ICC anticipated that the incoming Trump administration would issue financial sanctions, and paid its staff three months' salary in advance.[3]
Order
The order imposes sanctions against the International Criminal Court based in The Hague, Netherlands. The order includes visa restrictions and financial penalties for people who help the ICC investigate US citizens and US allies.[5] It also imposed sanctions against ICC prosecutor Karim Khan.[6]
The order is intended as punishment for the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Netanyahu and Gallant. They are suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed by the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war.[5]
Related actions
On July 9, 2025, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, announced that he was drawing on the order to impose sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nationsspecial rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories. Rubio claimed Albanese was antisemitic, supported terrorism, and expressed "open contempt" for the US, Israel, and western countries, and said the sanctions were prompted by her "illegitimate and shameful" attempts to get the ICC to act against "officials, companies, and executives" in Israel and the US.[7]
Responses
Caspar Veldkamp, Dutch minister of foreign affairs, stated via X that he regretted Trump's decree and wrote "The work of the court is essential in the fight against impunity. Our country has a strong reputation and responsibility as a host country of important international legal institutions. The Netherlands actively contributes to strengthening the international legal order and multilateral cooperation and will fulfill binding international legal and treaty obligations in good faith."[8]
In a post on X, Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, called the executive order a "threat" to the independence of the international judicial institution, and said that sanctioning the ICC "undermines the entire international legal system".[8]
References
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