Trump Is Right to Crush the ICC: Foreign Judges Have No Business Ruling Over Americans

Most Americans, I dare say, have never heard of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It’s not exactly dinner-table conversation. But that hasn’t stopped this rogue international body from claiming the power to investigate, indict, and potentially imprison American citizens—and it certainly isn’t slowing the Trump Administration from putting the ICC on the chopping block.

The ICC was established under the Rome Statute, and it’s tied to the United Nations system. What many fellow Americans don’t know is the ICC asserts jurisdiction even over countries that never agreed to its authority. The United States has never ratified the Rome Statute and rejects any claim that foreign judges in The Hague can sit in judgment of American citizens or personnel.

Yet that has not stopped the court from going after our closest allies.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza. Israel, like the United States, is not a party to the Rome Statute and refuses to recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani went further.

He publicly branded Netanyahu a “war criminal,” declared him unwelcome in America’s largest city, and called on the federal government to arrest him and hand him over to The Hague. Mamdani admitted New York City has no legal power to enforce the warrant—but still urged Washington to do the ICC’s dirty work.

That’s not solidarity with justice. That’s an American elected official treating the ICC’s political lawfare as legitimate and inviting foreign jurisdiction onto U.S. soil.

And Americans are next.

The ICC previously opened investigations into U.S. servicemen and intelligence personnel over Afghanistan, declaring that our own military justice system wasn’t good enough for them. In other words, these foreign judges decided they—not the American people or our elected government—should have the final say over how the United States defends itself.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it plainly: No globalist judge has any authority over Americans. Full stop.

A Court So Corrupt It Fired Its Own Prosecutor

This is the same institution that just removed its own chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, after findings of serious sexual misconduct involving a junior staff member—including non-consensual contact and abuse of power. These are the people who claim the moral authority to sit in judgment of American heroes who risk their lives in uniform?

The ICC is not a neutral temple of justice.

It is a politicized, unaccountable body that selectively targets U.S. allies while ignoring far worse actors. For instance, the court issued active arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Yet, the only warrant it ever issued against a Hamas commander—Mohammed Deif—was canceled after his death, leaving no ongoing cases against any living Hamas leaders responsible for the October 7 slaughter.

Democrats Are Enabling the Threat

While the Trump administration works to dismantle this threat, some Democrats are actively trying to legitimize it.

Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced H.Res. 1435 calling for the United States to join the ICC and lift the sanctions and visa bans that protect American sovereignty. Rep. Jim McGovern has long praised the court as a necessary check when countries “can’t or won’t” act—language that implies America itself is deficient and needs foreign supervision. Other voices on the left have floated the idea that Trump administration officials should fear ICC scrutiny.

This is not principled human rights advocacy. It is a willingness to subordinate the United States to an international body that has never been accountable to the American people.

President Trump Is Fighting Back—Hard

Unlike previous administrations that treated the ICC with kid gloves, President Trump has launched a whole-of-government campaign to remove its ability to threaten Americans systematically. Executive Order 14203 imposed sanctions. Judges and prosecutors involved in targeting the U.S. or Israel have faced asset freezes, travel bans, and visa restrictions. Diplomatic pressure is being applied to urge other nations to withdraw.

The message is clear: cooperate with the ICC’s lawfare against Americans or our allies, and there will be consequences.

Legislation such as S. 3273 and H.R. 5411 would further protect sovereignty by restricting federal grants and barring state and local cooperation with ICC warrants against certain foreign officials. These are practical tools to ensure that no American jurisdiction becomes an extension of The Hague’s reach.

What’s Really at Stake

This fight is broader than one court. It is about whether the United States remains a sovereign nation under its own Constitution or becomes subject to an international bureaucracy known for shifting winds. American self-rule, our laws, our military, and our freedoms cannot be outsourced to foreign judges who answer to no American voter.

President Trump understands the danger.

The administration is treating the ICC for what it is: an illegitimate threat that must be confronted and constrained. Patriots should recognize the same reality. The power of combined American resolve can push back against this overreach the same way it has pushed back against other globalist pretensions.

The choice is straightforward.

Either we defend the principle that Americans decide American justice, or we accept that unelected outsiders in Europe get a veto over our sovereignty. The Trump administration has chosen the former. The rest of us should stand with that choice—clearly, unapologetically, and without illusion about what the ICC represents.

AUTHOR

Martin Mawyer

Martin Mawyer is the founder of the Digital Intelligence Project and the President of Christian Action Network. He is the host of the “Shout Out Patriots” podcast, and author of When Evil Stops Hiding. For more action alerts, cultural commentary, and real-world campaigns defending faith, family, and freedom, subscribe to Patriot Majority Report.

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