Trump Sanctions International Criminal Court And Those Who Assist It

Trump Sanctions International Criminal Court And Those Who Assist It

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a purportedly noble entity that was at risk of being weaponized for political purposes, like almost every other international organization. It’s why the U.S., Israel, Russia, India, China, and numerous other nations refused to join.

ICC jurisdiction is limited to investigating and prosecuting people from member states, but that has not stopped it from being used to investigate the U.S. conduct in Afghanistan. That action led to sanctions being imposed in 2020 during Trump’s first term, which were then revoked by Biden. Trump then revoked Biden’s revocation of sanctions soon after being sworn in.

So contrary to what you might think from press accounts, U.S. sanctions on the ICC started with ICC conduct towards the U.S., not towards Israel.

In November 2024, the ICC  issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and (former) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant relating to Gaza. I addressed those ICC actions and the possiblity of renewed sanctions on November 23, 2024, ICC Deserves To Be Gutted With Sanctions After Lawless Arrest Warrant For Bibi Netanyahu:

Legislation passed the U.S. House imposing sanctions on the ICC, but the legislation was filibustered by Democrats in the Senate, where it has stalled.

Today Trump reinstated the sanctions on the ICC by Executive Order using his emergency and national security powers (emphasis added):

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the International Criminal Court (ICC), as established by the Rome Statute, has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel. The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC. Neither country has ever recognized the ICC’s jurisdiction, and both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war. The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest. This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel. Furthermore, in 2002, the Congress enacted the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.) to protect United States military personnel, United States officials, and officials and military personnel of certain allied countries against criminal prosecution by an international criminal court to which the United States is not party, stating, “In addition to exposing members of the Armed Forces of the United States to the risk of international criminal prosecution, the Rome Statute creates a risk that the President and other senior elected and appointed officials of the United States Government may be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.” (22 U.S.C. 7421(9)).

* * *

The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members, as their entry into our Nation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

I therefore determine that any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute protected persons, as defined in section 8(d) of this order, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to address that threat.

The Executive Order then goes on to specify the sanctions and also refers to an “annex” of persons targeted (which I can’t find – if anyone finds it please post link in comments). The first set of sanctions is the freezing of property (emphasis added):

Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person, of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(i) the person listed in the Annex to this order; and
(ii) any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General:
(A) to have directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person’s country of nationality;
(B) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activity in subsection (a)(ii)(A) of this section or any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
(C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the date of this order.

And then a prohibition from entering the United States:

Sec. 4. The unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens determined to meet one or more of the criteria in section 1 of this order, as well as immediate family members of such aliens, or aliens determined by the Secretary of State to be employed by, or acting as an agent of, the ICC, would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, is hereby suspended …..

As far as I can tell, the EO doesn’t criminalize assistance to the ICC, that would have to come from legislation.

But we may be able to keep out some undesirables.

From Trump’s EO today on the ICC. Note “as well as their immediate family members.”

Amal Clooney is married to George Clooney. https://t.co/c3CsJdRPqC pic.twitter.com/ej8f7ZtuzD

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 7, 2025

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