The administration of President Donald Trump has urged the International Criminal Court to revise its founding charter to ensure the tribunal cannot pursue investigations of the President or senior American officials, Reuters reported on Wednesday. A U.S. official said Washington may widen its sanctions campaign against the court if its demands are not met.
The official told Reuters that the US has asked the ICC to drop its probes of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and to formally close its long-running Afghanistan file concerning American personnel. Failure to do so, the source said, could lead to further punitive measures targeting additional ICC figures and potentially the court as an institution.
Sanctioning the tribunal itself would mark a significant escalation in the U.S. confrontation with the ICC, which has faced bipartisan criticism in Washington. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the court in 2002.
The US official, who spoke anonymously, said the administration has conveyed its position to ICC member states, including several American allies, as well as to the court directly. The demand and the threat of renewed sanctions had not been previously disclosed.
ICC judges last year issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense chief Yoav Gallant, and the late Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged crimes tied to the Gaza conflict. The court also initiated an Afghanistan investigation in 2020 that included scrutiny of US forces, though it later scaled back its focus without formally ending the inquiry.
Earlier this year, Washington imposed sanctions on nine ICC personnel but has so far avoided measures that would directly impede the court’s operations. According to the Reuters report, US officials fear the tribunal could revisit American actions after Trump’s term ends in 2029.
"There is growing concern... that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others," the official told Reuters, adding that the administration would not permit such proceedings.
The ICC noted that amendments to the Rome Statute fall under the authority of its member states and declined to comment on whether Washington has sought immunity provisions. Any change to the treaty would require approval from two-thirds of the States Parties, and more fundamental revisions to jurisdiction would require an even broader consensus.
The US has also launched a deadly campaign against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific regions since September. Members of Congress have called for inquiries into reports that US forces killed two survivors of one such strike. The White House maintains the action was lawful. The administration would not say whether concerns over this operation or actions in Venezuela influenced its pressure on the ICC.
The official declined to specify when Washington began communicating its demands to the tribunal and its members. ICC deputy prosecutors told Reuters they have not received requests to investigate US conduct in Venezuela.
Any effort to codify immunity for specific individuals would require approval by the Assembly of States Parties and could be seen as challenging the core principles on which the court was established.