The order that put the International Criminal Court in Washington’s sights was signed on 6 February 2025. President Donald Trump authorized sanctions on the court and on its Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan. As of 25 March, Khan was the only person named under it, though others could be added later.
Amnesty International called the order an attempt to stop the court doing its independent work. UN experts went further, describing it as “an attack on global rule of law” that undermines international justice.
A familiar move
It was not the first time. Trump issued a similar order toward the end of his first term in 2020, and President Joe Biden later lifted it. This time the trigger was plain. In November 2024 the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the al-Qassam brigades commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The sanctions were announced just days before Netanyahu’s first White House visit since Trump’s re-election.
Washington’s objection has deep roots. The United States is not a member of the court, and it has long resisted the idea that the court can prosecute people from non-member countries for acts committed on member territory. Afghanistan, where US military and CIA personnel were under scrutiny, and Palestine are the clearest examples. Even the Biden administration, which backed the Ukraine investigation and the warrant for Vladimir Putin, criticized the Netanyahu and Gallant cases and hosted Gallant after his warrant was issued.
Who pays for it
Khan is the prosecutor handling the Netanyahu, Gallant and Al-Masri cases, so Palestinians seeking justice feel the pressure most directly. But Amnesty argues the damage reaches every investigation. The court is currently working or has issued warrants in Afghanistan, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Darfur, the DRC, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Ukraine and Venezuela.
The reasoning is practical. The court depends on member states to arrest suspects and on researchers, lawyers, human rights defenders, victims and witnesses to build cases. Sanctions discourage individuals and companies from working with it. Some of the cases Washington itself has cheered are exposed: the Putin warrant, which Biden welcomed, and the US reward programme that offers money for information leading to the arrest of Joseph Kony and Ahmad Harun.
The court, whose founding Rome Statute has 125 member states, has also issued warrants for Omar Al Bashir over Darfur and Rodrigo Duterte over the Philippines drug war. Duterte was transferred to the court in March 2025.
The response
Support has not vanished. In June 2024, 74 member states reaffirmed their commitment to fighting impunity, and after the order EU foreign ministers declared their “unwavering support” for the court. Amnesty says words are not enough and wants states to pass laws shielding individuals and companies from US sanctions and to arrest and transfer people subject to the court’s warrants.
