Donald Trump called on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York for every country that is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resign from what he called an “out-of-control institution” and “an evil group of people”.

“I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” he said, according to The Independent and Gulf News. The US president said Washington would “never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us”. The United States is not an ICC member and has never ratified the Rome Statute that created the court; Washington has sanctioned court officials since February 2025, after the ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed in July 2026 to “dismantle the ICC, brick by brick”, and The Independent reports that fresh sanctions against the court could be finalised shortly after the General Assembly.