US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday intensified the Trump administration’s campaign against the International Criminal Court, calling it an “illegitimate international organisation” and claiming five more countries have notified the tribunal of their withdrawal.
Speaking alongside President Donald Trump, Rubio accused the Hague-based court of overstepping its mandate by asserting jurisdiction over nationals of states that are not parties to the Rome Statute.
“The International Criminal Court is an illegitimate international organisation. Frankly, illegitimate — they’ve made themselves illegitimate because they claim that even if you’re not a member of that court, they can come after you,” Rubio said.
He warned that the court’s approach posed a direct threat to American service members and political leaders. “What that literally means in the future is that American servicemen, political leaders and others could find themselves under indictment by this International Criminal Court,” he added.
Rubio said the United States had sought reforms but met resistance. “We’ve tried to get them to reform and listen to us. They wouldn’t do it. They’re very arrogant. We’ve now begun an effort to really try to bring that court to heel.”
Highlighting growing support for Washington’s position, he stated: “We’ve had dozens of countries already join us. Since we started two weeks ago, five countries have already quit the ICC and notified them that they’re leaving, and we think there’ll be more.”
He did not name the five countries. Separate reports have identified Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Venezuela and Chad as having recently notified the court of their intention to leave, a process that takes one year to complete.
Rubio further cautioned that US troops could face risks long after deployments. “Imagine you’re a soldier, you fought in a war and 20 years later they try to come grab you. So this is a big problem.”
President Trump said there was no current indication the court was targeting him personally. “There’s no information that they’re after me,” he said, while stressing the broader need to protect American officials and military personnel.
The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC. The Trump administration has previously imposed sanctions on ICC officials over investigations involving US personnel in Afghanistan and Israeli leaders related to the conflict in Gaza.
Rubio’s claim of five recent withdrawals could not be independently confirmed by the original report, and the ICC has not issued an immediate public response.
