President Donald Trump urged countries to leave the International Criminal Court immediately, calling it “evil” and “a rogue institution,” but only Naoero, a tiny Pacific island nation formerly known as Nauru, has followed suit during the U.N. General Assembly this week. Trump’s appeal on Tuesday capped an escalating U.S. campaign against the Hague-based court, which Washington says oversteps its authority by claiming jurisdiction over citizens of countries, including the United States and Israel, that have not ratified its founding treaty known as the Rome Statute.
While a handful of countries have moved to leave the ICC, many governments, particularly in Europe, have rallied to defend the Netherlands-based court as a cornerstone of international justice. Parties to the statute include 125 countries. Netherlands Prime Minister Rob Jetten, addressing the General Assembly on Thursday, said the court is “under attack” and at risk, without mentioning the United States.
To say, ’Hands off the ICC, and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order.’” The remarks drew loud applause from delegates. The U.S. has imposed financial sanctions and visa bans on court staff, and officials have prepared sanctions that could undercut the court’s ability to operate, sources familiar with the matter said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched a diplomatic push to “dismantle the ICC — brick by brick, if necessary,” claiming the court posed a threat to American service members and those carrying out Trump’s deportations of migrants and strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats.
Trump has said the campaign is aimed at protecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom the ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 alongside his then-defense minister and a Hamas military commander over the Gaza war. Since Rubio announced the campaign, Venezuela and Chad have announced plans to withdraw from the court. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their exits the previous year, denouncing the court as an instrument of “neocolonial repression.” Naoero President David Adeang said in his speech to the U.N.
General Assembly on Tuesday he would formally withdraw his country from the Rome Statute due to the ICC’s “increasing irrelevance.” “Naoero joins a growing number of nations standing up for their sovereignty against the ICC’s illegitimate overreach,” U.S. Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre said on X after meeting the island nation’s deputy foreign minister. The European Union rallied behind the court, and officials have discussed drawing up a blocking statute in response to the potential U.S. sanctions.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters this week the bloc had options to defend the court. Tomoko Akane, the ICC president already under U.S. sanctions, is a Japanese national. Japan’s government called the proposed sanctions “very unfortunate” and dispatched an official to The Hague to discuss how it could support her.
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