In 2020, the US government imposed sanctions on senior officials in the International Criminal Court, which was investigating whether US forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
President Trump issued an Executive Order in February 2025 imposing sanctions on ICC officials involved in investigating US or Israeli nationals.
The move came three months after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
In recent months the US has extended the measures to more ICC officials and has talked of dismantling the ICC "brick by brick".
Former Congressman Allen West, who served in the US military in Iraq, tells us the sanctions are due to legitimate concerns about the court infringing US sovereignty.
But war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody argues that they are, at least in part, designed to protect President Trump and other US officials from potential prosecution for war crimes.

