Trump Administration Seeks to Prevent ICC From Investigating U.S. Officials

Welcome back to the Global Digest, where we look at it we pressure against International Criminal Court, Australia A ban was imposed on social media, and hostility increased between the two parties China and Japan.

Threat of the International Criminal Court

A US official told Reuters on Wednesday that the White House is pressuring the International Criminal Court to change its founding document to prevent it from investigating US President Donald Trump and his senior officials. The threats represent a major escalation in Trump’s long campaign against the global war crimes tribunal at a time when legal experts suggest the administration may have violated international law through US military operations against alleged drug boats near Latin America.

Welcome back to the Global Digest, where we look at it we pressure against International Criminal Court, Australia A ban was imposed on social media, and hostility increased between the two parties China and Japan.

Threat of the International Criminal Court

A US official told Reuters on Wednesday that the White House is pressuring the International Criminal Court to change its founding document to prevent it from investigating US President Donald Trump and his senior officials. The threats represent a major escalation in Trump’s long campaign against the global war crimes tribunal at a time when legal experts suggest the administration may have violated international law through US military operations against alleged drug boats near Latin America.

The American official did not specify the cases that the Trump administration fears could be subject to investigation by the International Criminal Court. However, the official said there is growing concern that “in 2029, the ICC will turn its attention to the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of War and others, and pursue prosecutions against them,” referring to Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The timing of the renewed pressure campaign comes as the White House faces mounting pressure from congress to release the full, unedited video of the Sept. 2 double attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean, where a second strike killed two survivors of an initial U.S. attack. On Tuesday, Hegseth (who faces congressional investigations over ordering the strike) said he was still considering whether to release the video.

According to the US official, the Trump administration wants the International Criminal Court to formally end its investigation into US military operations in Afghanistan, as well as drop its investigations into senior Israeli officials regarding the war in Gaza.

ICC prosecutors opened for the first time an investigation into the US operation in Afghanistan during Trump’s first term, saying US forces may have committed war crimes there; In 2021, the court lowered the priorities of its investigations, but stopped short of formally ending the investigation. In November 2024, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and Hamas.

The United States has long accused the court of violating American sovereignty and the sovereignty of its closest allies, such as Israel. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on August 10 that the ICC “continues to ignore national sovereignty and facilitate lawfare through efforts to investigate, arrest, detain and prosecute US and Israeli citizens.”

Although the United States and Israel have not signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Afghanistan and Palestine have signed the statute, giving the ICC the authority to investigate alleged crimes there.

The Trump administration has threatened to sanction more ICC officials and possibly impose sanctions on the court itself if its three demands are not met. Earlier this year, the United States imposed sanctions on nine officials at the International Criminal Court, including the court’s chief prosecutor and a number of judges. However, imposing sanctions on the ICC as an entity would severely disrupt the court’s day-to-day operations, such as paying staff salaries and accessing bank accounts.

In order for the ICC to change the Rome Statute, two-thirds of its 125 members must ratify the change. Besides the United States and Israel, other major powers that are not members of the ICC include China, Russia and Iran.

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What we follow

Block social media. The world’s first social media ban for children under 16 went into effect in Australia on Wednesday. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “This is the day Australian families take back power from these big tech companies and assert the right for children to be children and for parents to have greater peace of mind.”

Ten major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Julie Inman-Grant, Australia’s e-safety commissioner, will implement the ban, with preliminary data on the effectiveness of the restrictions announced before 25 December.

The legislation aims to protect children from potential dangers online, such as sexual blackmail and lack of privacy. However, some rights groups have warned of a “blanket ban,” and two Australian teenagers have already sued the government for violating their right to political communication. “Many young people will undoubtedly find ways to avoid restrictions,” Damini Satya, Amnesty International’s technology program director, wrote on Wednesday. “A ban simply means that they will continue to suffer the same harms but in secret, putting them at greater risk.”

Military threat. The United States criticized China on Tuesday for directing radar beams at Japanese military aircraft while the Chinese army was conducting a training exercise last week. A US State Department spokesman said: “China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability.”

Chinese J-15 fighter jets shut down their fire control radar on Japanese planes over international waters near Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday, Japanese officials said. This radar lock usually indicates a potential attack, often forcing target aircraft to take evasive action, and is thus considered among the most threatening actions a military aircraft can take.

But Beijing said that Japanese aircraft repeatedly approached the Chinese navy and disrupted it while it was conducting previously announced exercises. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi admitted that the Japanese Navy had been notified in advance of the Chinese maneuvers, but said that the information provided to it lacked important details, such as the specific timing and location of the exercises.

The incident adds pressure to Japan’s already unstable relationship with China, which has faced increasing challenges since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi threatened military intervention last month if China attacks Taiwan. Also on Tuesday, Tokyo sent military aircraft to monitor Chinese and Russian forces who were conducting joint patrols near Japan.

Pledge to reduce emissions The European Union agreed on Wednesday to set a new climate target after months of intense opposition from some Eastern European members. Under the legally binding agreement, EU countries must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent below 1990 levels by 2040. After 2036, countries may purchase foreign carbon credits to cover 5 percent of emission reductions, with a further 5 percent credit taken into account in the future.

Although the deal aims to keep Europe on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the deal falls short of the EU’s original proposal, as the credit system would mean only an 85 percent reduction would be needed in practice. However, this still exceeds the pledges of most major powers, including those of China and the United States – the world’s two largest emitters.

The agreement comes just one month after delegates at the UN climate change conference in Brazil failed to reach consensus on how best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with many countries opposing any restrictions on fossil fuels. It comes a day after the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service warned that 2025 would be the second or third warmest year on record.

Odds and Ends

The daughter of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of her mother during a ceremony held in Oslo, Norway, on Wednesday. The elder Machado was initially banned from leaving Venezuela after Caracas warned her that it would declare her a fugitive from the country if she left the country; Machado has been in hiding for nearly a year for challenging the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. However, later on Wednesday, the Nobel laureate surprised activists by announcing that she would in fact be traveling to Oslo to reunite with her family after almost two years.