In December 2025, rumors circulated online that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at the International Criminal Court, threatening sanctions against officials and the court itself should they continue to target Trump or his allies, within his administration or in foreign governments.
Users on social media, particularly on Facebook (archived, archived, archived), posted about the alleged threat. One post said that “the administration is openly pressuring the world’s top war-crimes tribunal to pledge it will never investigate the president, the vice president, or even the secretary of war — not now, not in 2029, not ever.”
The rumor appeared to originate with a Dec. 10 article by Reuters, which reported that an anonymous source said the administration wanted the ICC to amend its founding document to prevent it from investigating Trump and top officials after the end of his time in office and was threatening sanctions against the court if it failed to act.
Snopes has not been able to independently verify this report, so we have not put a rating on this claim. We reached out to the White House for comment and were directed to the Department of State, which has not responded to our inquiry. We also reached out to the ICC for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, says it “investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.” It was formed in 2002 upon the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which was adopted by a vote in the United Nations in 1998.
Former President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute in December 2000, but according to official documentation, the U.S. government requested the country’s removal from the treaty before ratification.
As a footnote to Clinton’s signature, the document showed a “communication received on 6 May 2002” from the U.S. government:
This is to inform you, in connection with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted on July 17, 1998, that the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty. Accordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on December 31, 2000. The United States requests that its intention not to become a party, as expressed in this letter, be reflected in the depositary status lists relating to this treaty.
China, Russia and Israel are other notable world powers who are not members of the ICC.
Trump’s battles against the ICC have been reported on at length, including during his first term when he sanctioned ICC officials, allegedly to slow down an investigation into potential war crimes perpetrated by the United States in Afghanistan. The sanctions were lifted by former President Joe Biden in 2021.
On Feb. 6, 2025, following the commencement of his second term, Trump signed an executive order proclaiming new sanctions against the ICC after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Israel-Hamas war.
The executive order read, in part:
Any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute protected persons, as defined in section 8(d) of this order, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to address that threat.
According to the order, “protected persons” included “current or former elected or appointed officials of the United States Government; and any other person currently or formerly employed by or working on behalf of the United States Government.”
The December 2025 Reuters article said that the administration might levy penalties against more ICC officials or sanction the court if it didn’t pledge to end its investigations of Israeli leaders as well as its probe into U.S. troops’ actions in Afghanistan.
Foreign Policy magazine further pointed out that this move came as pressure grew for the White House to release the full, unedited video of a Sept. 2 double-tap strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat.
The court appeared unlikely to change its position. In early December 2025, NBC News reported that Judge Tomoko Akane, president of the ICC, told delegates during their annual meeting that the court would “never accept any kind of pressure.”
Sources
Clinton’s Statement on War Crimes Court. 31 Dec. 2000. news.bbc.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1095580.stm.
Edwards, Christian. “What Is the ICC and Why Has Trump Sanctioned It?” CNN, 7 Feb. 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/07/world/icc-trump-sanctions-israel-gaza-explained-intl.
Hansler, Jennifer. “Pompeo Slams ICC Decision to Authorize Afghanistan War Crimes Investigation | CNN Politics.” CNN, 5 Mar. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/politics/icc-afghanistan-pompeo.
———. “Trump Authorizes Sanctions against International Criminal Court Officials | CNN Politics.” CNN, 11 June 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/politics/icc-executive-order.
———. “US Sanctions International Criminal Court Officials | CNN Politics.” CNN, 2 Sept. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/politics/us-icc-sanctions.
Humeyra Pamuk. “Exclusive: US Threatens New ICC Sanctions Unless Court Pledges Not to Prosecute Trump.” News. Reuters, Reuters, 10 Dec. 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-threatens-new-icc-sanctions-unless-court-pledges-not-prosecute-trump-2025-12-10/.
“ICC President Vows to Resist U.S. and Russian Pressure despite Sanctions and Threats.” NBC News, 1 Dec. 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/icc-president-vows-resist-us-russian-pressure-sanctions-threats-rcna246739.
“Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.” The White House, 6 Feb. 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/imposing-sanctions-on-the-international-criminal-court/.
Roth, Kenneth. “Sanctioning the ICC Could Put Most Travel Off-Limits for Trump.” Foreign Policy, 22 Dec. 2025, https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/21/trump-international-criminal-court-sanctions/.
“Trump Says Survivors of Scrutinized US Strike Were Trying to Right Boat before 2nd Missile Was Fired.” AP News, 8 Dec. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/trump-strike-video-footage-boat-caribbean-3cf2ca9cbe4523978e935b99c2979caa.
US Rescinds ICC Sanctions | Human Rights Watch. 2 Apr. 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/02/us-rescinds-icc-sanctions.
“US Sanctions More ICC Judges, Prosecutors for Probes into Alleged American, Israeli War Crimes.” AP News, 20 Aug. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/us-icc-trump-israel-rubio-sanctions-5e633947709ffe781e92525041c13ca9.
“US Sanctions More ICC Judges, Prosecutors for Probes into Alleged American, Israeli War Crimes.” AP News, 20 Aug. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/us-icc-trump-israel-rubio-sanctions-5e633947709ffe781e92525041c13ca9.
