Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle International criminal court

Marco Rubio in Ankara, Turkey on 8 July 2026. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Marco Rubio in Ankara, Turkey on 8 July 2026. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle International criminal court US secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operations Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, launched a campaign to dismantle the International criminal court (ICC) on Monday, claiming that the global tribunal was interfering with US military and law enforcement operations at the risk of American sovereignty. Rubio invoked images of US Border Patrol agents and elected leaders being “dragged before an international court” and tried by judges from around the world in a lengthy op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal Monday. “If we stand idle, all of them will be at the mercy of foreign judges, thousands of miles away – facing the constant risk of prosecution and even imprisonment for the so-called ‘crime’ of defending their own country,” Rubio warned in a companion video posted to X . The state department plan to “dismantle” the ICC will involve pressuring other nations to abandon the court, according to CNN. “Nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance are likely to come under increased scrutiny,” an official told the outlet, adding that possible punishments could involve sanctions, travel bans and visa revocations. But three international legal experts described Rubio’s remarks as a mischaracterization of the tribunal’s powers. “The ICC is not claiming jurisdiction over conduct in the United States,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Rubio is dressing up his quest for impunity for American war crimes under the label of national sovereignty, which ignores the sovereign right of other nations to invoke the ICC for crimes committed on their territory.” The international court, headquartered in The Hague, can only investigate crimes committed in states’ that are party to the Rome Statute , the 2002 treaty that established the ICC. The United States has not ratified the treaty, nor has the court opened investigations into crimes committed on American soil. “Trump wants to be able to commit war crimes on the territory of countries that have accepted the court’s jurisdiction – that’s what this is about,” Roth said. At times the Trump administration has celebrated the concept of ICC jurisdiction – welcoming an investigation into Russian war crimes committed into Ukraine, which is a signatory to the Rome Statute. The Office of the ICC prosecutor, led by Karim Khan, opened an investigation into Israel’s conduct in Palestine, which has consented to its investigations there. The court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, in connection to its war crimes invest