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Trump's ICC Anger Is Not New: Bush and Clinton Also Held Skepticism
US President Trump recently condemned the International Criminal Court (ICC) as run by "wicked people" conducting "show trials," following arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and investigations into US soldiers in Afghanistan. This hostility continues a long-standing pattern of American skepticism toward the court that dates back to the 1990s, with both Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican President George W. Bush refusing to ratify the Rome Statute due to sovereignty concerns. Although relations improved under Barack Obama, they deteriorated again in 2017 when ICC prosecutors investigated US actions in Afghanistan. While former advisor John Bellinger argues current measures go too far, legal expert Geert-Jan Knoops acknowledges procedural flaws in the ICC. European leaders, including Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, have strongly condemned the US sanctions, urging protection of the international legal order.
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