US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday vowed to "dismantle" the International Criminal Court and urged other countries to join the effort as the Trump administration significantly escalates its campaign against the global institution.
Rubio accused the ICC of "waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles," but with "the force of so-called international law."
The administration's ire against the ICC goes back to President Donald Trump's first term, when it targeted the ICC for seeking to investigate alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan. The second Trump administration has imposed a slew of sanctions against ICC officials for their attempts to investigate the US and Israel.
However, the State Department-led, "whole-of-government campaign" to dismantle the ICC is a significant escalation, particularly as it seeks to pressure countries around the world to join and threatens potential cuts to US assistance for those who don't.