President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing a major escalation in his administration’s campaign against the International Criminal Court, with sanctions that could make it nearly impossible for the Hague tribunal to carry out routine international business, according to reporting first published by The Wall Street Journal.
The plan, as described by the Journal, would prohibit most financial transactions involving the ICC after a grace period of six to seven months, with only limited exceptions such as communications-related activity. Reuters independently confirmed that a proposal exists but said it had not verified the Journal’s specific details.
If implemented, the restrictions would effectively cut the court off from transactions involving American companies and the U.S.-dominated financial system — a structure the ICC relies on to pay staff, contract with vendors, and move money across borders.
Broader Than Existing Penalties
What distinguishes the reported plan from measures already in place is its scope. Washington has, to date, sanctioned individual ICC judges, prosecutors, and other officials connected to cases touching Israel or the United States. The Journal characterized the newly reported measures as potentially far more damaging than those targeted designations, because they would hit the institution itself rather than named individuals.
The practical effect, according to the reporting, could be to leave banks, contractors, and other international companies unwilling or unable to deal with the court at all. Financial institutions that handle ICC business would face a choice between continuing that relationship and maintaining access to dollar-denominated markets.
Social media accounts amplifying the Journal’s reporting on September 20, 2026, including posts from Dave Brown and Eric Daugherty, described the move as an effort to cut off the ICC from making most transactions in U.S. dollars. The Gateway Pundit’s Ben Kew reported on the Journal’s account, noting the administration has not announced a final decision.
Rooted in the Netanyahu Warrant
The Trump administration’s conflict with the court dates to the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Trump has targeted the institution since returning to office, signing an executive order in February 2025 that declared the court had engaged in “illegitimate and baseless actions” against the United States and Israel and authorized asset freezes and other penalties against officials involved.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been among the administration’s most vocal critics of the tribunal. In a July 2026 post, Rubio described the ICC as seeking to become “the unaccountable arbiter of a new global law — empowered to prosecute and arrest our citizens at will and existentially threaten American sovereignty,” adding that Washington would “teach the ICC the full meaning of American resolve.”
That posture has already translated into designations against a series of senior judges, prosecutors, and other officials tied to cases involving Israel or the United States.
An Existential Test for a Young Court
The ICC was established in 2002 and depends on cooperation from member states and access to global banking infrastructure to function. Sanctions that steer major financial institutions away from the court would strike at that foundation in a way earlier designations did not.
Because the reported plan has not been finalized and the Journal’s details have not been independently verified by other outlets, the precise contours of any eventual action remain uncertain. Reuters reported the proposal’s existence while explicitly declining to confirm the specifics.
Still, taken at face value, the reporting describes what could amount to the most serious challenge the court has faced since its founding — a threat not to individual officials but to the institution’s ability to operate at all.
Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com — https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/report-trump-prepares-crippling-icc-sanctions-that-could/