Rubio threatens to dismantle ICC “piece by piece” and tells U.S. allies to rein in court or Washington will continue campaign against it

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened to dismantle the International Criminal Court “piece by piece” unless it stops actions Washington considers a threat to Americans, while putting pressure on U.S. allies that are members of the court to help curb its activities. Rubio said many of those countries rely on American service members for their defense and warned that the Trump administration would continue escalating its campaign against the tribunal if they failed to act.

“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” Rubio said as he announced sweeping U.S. sanctions against the court. He described the tribunal as a “rogue court” and said Washington expected its allies to “rein in” the institution.

“If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, piece by piece, until Americans are threatened no longer,” Rubio said.

The ICC responded by condemning the U.S. sanctions as an assault on the rule of law and the international legal order. ICC President Tomoko Akane said the court would continue carrying out its mandate independently and impartially and appealed to its 125 member states to defend the institution.

The United States is not a member of the ICC and has long rejected its jurisdiction over American nationals. Washington’s confrontation with the court intensified over its investigation of alleged crimes involving U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and later over arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The Trump administration has previously sanctioned ICC prosecutors and judges, but Friday’s measures expanded the pressure to the court as an institution.