Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that the U.S. is launching a campaign to push other countries to abandon the International Criminal Court. He released an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, posted a video on social media, and the State Department issued a formal statement all on the same day. The Guardian State Department

In the video, Rubio warned that American Border Patrol agents and U.S. elected officials could be prosecuted in foreign courts if the International Criminal Court's power goes unchecked. His main argument: the court threatens American independence and should not be allowed to judge American citizens or officials.

The campaign is serious. Countries that receive U.S. military aid or trade benefits and refuse to leave the ICC face threats — the U.S. could impose sanctions, ban their officials from traveling to America, or revoke their visas. CNN This is much stronger than what the U.S. has done before. In the past, the U.S. went after individual judges or prosecutors at the court. Now it is pressuring entire governments to abandon their membership.

Why does the U.S. care? The United States has never joined the International Criminal Court. The country opposed it from the beginning in the 1990s. American negotiators at that time wanted the UN Security Council — which the U.S. controls with veto power — to have final say over who the court could prosecute. When that didn't happen, the U.S. stayed out.

But now the U.S. is going further than simple refusal to join. It is trying to convince other countries to leave the court altogether. The administration says this is necessary because the court has started investigating actions by the U.S. military and Israeli forces. State Department They describe these investigations as unfair attacks rather than legitimate legal cases.

The challenge for the U.S. is that many countries view the International Criminal Court as an important institution. European countries especially consider it a cornerstone of international justice. If the U.S. starts threatening to cut aid or ban officials from traveling unless they leave the court, these countries will face a difficult choice: keep their treaty commitment or maintain their relationship with America.

Rubio's warning about Border Patrol agents being prosecuted touches on a real concern for the administration. American immigration enforcement officers operate under U.S. policies that could theoretically be investigated by the court. The court has no case against border officials right now, but the possibility worries the Trump administration enough to make it public.

What comes next is uncertain. European countries and poorer nations that depend on American military and financial support will have to decide whether the U.S. threat is real and whether keeping the International Criminal Court is worth the cost. The court has survived U.S. pressure before, but never a campaign this direct — one aimed not at changing how the court works but at convincing countries to abandon it entirely.