US threatens new sanctions against International Criminal Court — 3 things Washington wants from ICC

US President Donald Trump's administration reportedly threatened sanctions against more International Criminal Court (ICC) officials if the court does not act on the US demand.

Sources told Reuters that the US is concerned that in 2029, the International Criminal Court (ICC) will turn its attention to President Donald Trump and other top US officials and pursue prosecutions against them.

What does the US want from ICC?

The Trump administration wants the ICC to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate Trump and his top officials, a Trump administration official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

There are two other demands: dropping investigations of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier probe of US troops over their actions in Afghanistan.

ICC judges had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defence chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.

In March 2020, prosecutors opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included possible crimes by US troops.

Since 2021, the court has deprioritised looking into the role of the US, but it has not formally ended its probe.

Fear of ICC action against Trump after his term ends in 2029

To force the war tribunal to drop these charges, the US earlier this year slapped sanctions on nine ICC officials, including judges and prosecutors.

But it stopped short of imposing sanctions on the court as an entity, which would severely disrupt the tribunal's work.

"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, and pursue prosecutions against them," the Trump administration official was quoted as saying.

According to Reuters, the Trump official did not say what issues the administration worries could become the subject of an ICC investigation.

But the official cited "open chatter" in the international legal community that the court could target Trump and his top officials in 2029, when the Republican president's term ends.

What do sanctions against ICC mean?

Sanctioning the ICC would significantly escalate the US campaign against the court, which has long been criticised by US officials - including both Republicans and Democrats - who say the court infringes on US sovereignty, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration official told the media house that Washington has communicated its demands to ICC members, some of whom are US allies, and has also made them known to the court.

Moreover, the US is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2002 as a court of last resort, with the power to prosecute heads of state.

The ICC is the world's permanent war crimes tribunal with 125 member states, including the entire EU but excluding major powers China, Russia and the US, among others.

Any effort to change the Rome Statute to accommodate the US demand would be slow and difficult, requiring the approval of two-thirds of the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.

Besides, sanctions applied to the court as an entity could affect its basic day-to-day operations, from its ability to pay staff to access to bank accounts and routine office software on its computers.