Diyar Güldoğan
31 July 2026•Update: 31 July 2026
US President Donald Trump said on Friday there is no indication that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking to investigate or prosecute him.
"There's no information that they're after me," Trump said as he hosted the first-ever televised Cabinet meeting at Camp David.
Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the meeting that five countries had announced plans to withdraw from the ICC since the US launched a campaign earlier this month, arguing the court poses a threat to US sovereignty.
Trump said the US campaign against the ICC was aimed at protecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others from prosecution, not himself.
"It could happen, but just so you know. He (Rubio) is not trying to defend me. He's trying to defend Bibi (Netanyahu) and various other people. But there are many people that shouldn't be looked at that way.
"But there is no indication that I'm one of them at this moment," he added.
Rubio argued that the ICC lacks legitimacy, saying it claims jurisdiction over individuals from countries that are not parties to the court.
"The International Criminal Court is an illegitimate international organization," he said.
"They've made themselves illegitimate because they claim that even if you're not a member of that court, they can come after you. What that literally means in the future is that American service members, political leaders and others could find themselves under indictment by this International Criminal Court," he added.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized the ICC, particularly after the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, over allegations related to the Gaza war. The US is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
This week, Chad became the latest country to begin formally withdrawing from the court after Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
Former ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who issued Netanyahu’s arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza in 2024, was recently dismissed over misconduct allegations.
