The Trump administration is criticizing the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly ignoring human rights abuses by authoritarian regimes while pursuing investigations that target Americans. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Fox News Digital that the ICC has violated international law by targeting U.S. service members, despite not investigating despotic regimes like Iran and North Korea. The U.S. claims the ICC lacks jurisdiction over non-member states but still pursues American personnel in Afghanistan, an action the administration calls "jurisdictional overreach."
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
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The Trump administration is escalating its campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the Hague-based tribunal of ignoring atrocities committed by authoritarian regimes while unlawfully targeting the U.S. and its service members.
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administration → escalate → U.S.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Fox News Digital that the ICC has "violated international law by targeting the United States and American servicemen" while it has "repeatedly turned a blind eye to the abuses of despotic regimes that fund terrorism, brutally suppress and torture their citizens, and carry out crimes against humanity."
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that → tell → humanity
The remarks are the latest step in the administration's broader effort to weaken the court, which U.S. officials argue has exceeded its authority by investigating Americans despite the U.S. never joining the Rome Statute that established the ICC.
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that → weaken → ICC
Earlier this year, the administration imposed sanctions on senior ICC officials and pledged to continue a diplomatic campaign against the tribunal.
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administration → impose → tribunal
Pigott vowed the U.S. "will continue its diplomatic campaign to systematically dismantle the court."
The administration has already imposed sanctions on ICC officials and launched a diplomatic campaign urging allies to reject the court's authority and reconsider their membership in the Rome Statute.
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administration → vow → Statute
The department argued the ICC has never opened a preliminary examination into Iran despite decades of allegations of human rights abuses, including the suppression of protests, executions of political prisoners and state sponsorship of terrorism.
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ICC → argue → terrorism
It also noted that the court closed a preliminary examination into North Korea without opening a full investigation and has not pursued further action despite a 2014 U.N. report documenting crimes against humanity.
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court → note → humanity
It also criticized the court's handling of ISIS and Syria, arguing the tribunal has failed to pursue accountability despite documented atrocities committed by the terror group and the Assad regime.
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tribunal → criticize → group
The ICC's authority is limited by the Rome Statute that created the court.
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that → limit → court
Iran, North Korea and Syria are not parties to the treaty, meaning the court generally cannot prosecute crimes committed on their territory unless another jurisdictional basis exists or the U.N. Security Council refers the situation.
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Council → mean → situation
Security Council efforts involving Syria have previously been blocked by Russian and Chinese vetoes.
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efforts → involve → vetoes
The administration argues those jurisdictional limitations do not excuse what it describes as the court's willingness to pursue Americans.
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it → argue → Americans
According to the State Department, the ICC "engaged in jurisdictional overreach" by investigating alleged actions by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan even though the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute.
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U.S. → accord → Statute
The ICC could not immediately be reached for comment.
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ICC → reach → comment
In 2020, the court authorized an investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan, including by Taliban fighters, Afghan security forces and U.S. military personnel and CIA officers.
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court → authorize → fighters
The investigation examined allegations that some U.S. personnel committed torture, cruel treatment and other abuses in Afghanistan, as well as at CIA "black sites" in Poland, Romania and Lithuania, all of which are parties to the Rome Statute.
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all → examine → Statute
Because those alleged crimes occurred on the territory of ICC member states, prosecutors argued the court had jurisdiction even though the U.S. is not a member.
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U.S. → allege → jurisdiction
The CIA's black-site program emerged after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and involved the secret detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects at clandestine facilities overseas.
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program → emerge → facilities
A 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report detailed the program, describing the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques," including waterboarding, and concluded the methods were more brutal than previously acknowledged and did not produce unique, otherwise unobtainable intelligence.
The report also described secret detention facilities in countries including Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania.
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report → detail → Afghanistan
The latest criticism comes amid one of the most contentious periods in the relationship between Washington and the Hague-based court.
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criticism → come → Washington
The U.S. has long objected to the ICC's investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction over Americans because the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute.
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U.S. → object → Statute
The dispute intensified further after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza, a move the U.S. rejected as illegitimate.
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U.S. → intensify → Gaza
Since returning to office, the Trump administration has made confronting the ICC a central foreign policy priority, imposing sanctions on multiple judges, prosecutors and other officials while vowing to dismantle what Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described as a "fatally politicized" institution that threatens U.S. and allied sovereignty.
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that → return → sovereignty
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