US Plans Broad Sanctions on the ICC Itself: What Would Change
The Trump administration is preparing sanctions against the International Criminal Court itself, not just its staff. A decision could be finalised during the UN General Assembly gathering in New York in the week of September 21, 2026, or soon afterwards, according to The Wall Street Journal citing anonymous officials Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported the preparations on September 21, 2026.
The reported plan would target the court as an institution rather than individual judges and prosecutors. After a grace period of six to seven months, most transactions with the ICC would be prohibited, as reported by The Wall Street Journal on September 20. Sanctions, in this case, mean restrictions on money and services. If imposed, US citizens and companies generally could not provide the ICC with money, goods or services without a licence, or formal permission, from the US Treasury. Like cutting a central office off from its bank and suppliers, the effect would reach day-to-day operations. The administration plans to announce the sanctions soon, according to Reuters citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Washington has already sanctioned more than a dozen ICC judges and prosecutors under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February 2025. In August 2026, the US added ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye to its sanctions list, with restrictions taking effect on September 17, 2026. The Wall Street Journal described the planned institutional sanctions as a sharp escalation in Washington's efforts to dismantle the court Wall Street Journal. Options under consideration in the wider effort to isolate the court have included travel bans and visa revocations Reuters. Reuters attributed its September 20 report on the preparations to Wall Street Journal reporting Reuters.
The United States has never joined the court. The ICC was created in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so. The ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The ICC president and registrar have warned that sanctions on the organization as a whole could interfere with buying IT and insurance services, hiring investigators, and making routine payments including salaries for American employees. Four US-based rights groups sued the Trump administration in August 2026, arguing that existing ICC-related sanctions obstruct their legal and human rights work. The US Department of State lists International Criminal Court-Related Sanctions dated August 18, 2026 in its sanctions programs information.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign in July 2026 to further isolate the ICC and urged other countries to withdraw from it. Chad and Venezuela moved in July 2026 to withdraw from the ICC, following Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Niger was the third country to leave the court PBS.
The broader context here is a change in sanctions technique with operational consequences. Targeted designations complicate travel and finance for named individuals. An institutional designation would test how a judicial body with global vendors, contractors and staff processes payments through the international financial system. For practitioners, the questions are practical. Which transactions would require a licence, how Treasury would handle permissions during the reported grace period, and whether banks and suppliers adjust their policies even where US jurisdiction is limited. The withdrawal sequence adds a second pressure track. It does not alter existing legal obligations overnight, but it signals where diplomatic alignment is shifting ahead of the General Assembly week.
