Trump administration prepares sanctions against International Criminal Court, sources say

President Donald Trump's administration is reportedly preparing sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to two sources familiar with the matter. The sanctions, which could be announced soon during the United Nations General Assembly meeting, would target the entire organization and any entities cooperating with it, potentially severely undermining the court's work.

The Trump administration has a long history of hostility towards the ICC, having sought to undermine its authority by opposing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and a past probe into American troops in Afghanistan. US officials have called on other countries to withdraw from the tribunal and have imposed sanctions on individual ICC judges and prosecutors.

However, these sanctions have not extended to the court itself, despite ongoing discussions about the possibility. The sanctions, if imposed, would prohibit US citizens and companies from providing funds, goods, or services to the ICC without a license from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The ICC, established in 2002, prosecutes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, and operates only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute such atrocities itself.