Washington: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged countries to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it a “rogue institution” that had no authority over the United States or its military personnel.
Trump delivered the call during a wide-ranging attack on international institutions in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.
“I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” the US President said.
He added that Washington would not accept investigations or trials involving American service members or other US citizens.
“We will 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,” he said.
Trump described the court as an “out-of-control institution” and called its officials “an evil group of people”.
The US President’s criticism of the ICC formed part of a broader argument against international organisations and regulations that he said infringed national sovereignty.
“There is no global government,” Trump said.
“And while I’m President, there will be no global taxes.”
Trump noted that his administration had worked with other countries to undertake what he called the most extensive reforms in UN history.
“We cut the UN budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15 per cent in 2026 and eliminating more than 4,000 positions from the UN bureaucracy,” he said.
Trump added that the United Nations had significant potential but accused unelected officials of pursuing a Left-wing global agenda.
“The United Nations has great, great potential, I’ve said that for many years, but it must stop imposing the far-Left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected,” he said.
The US President also criticised the International Maritime Organisation, a UN agency responsible for regulating global shipping.
Trump said his administration had intervened to prevent the organisation from establishing what he described as the first global carbon tax.
He claimed the proposal could have increased international shipping costs by between 10 and 20 per cent or more.
He said there was no human right to enter another country illegally and added that every country had the right to maintain its sovereignty.
“There is no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation, and we want to remain a sovereign nation, and so should you,” Trump added.
The US President also criticised UNESCO, accusing international officials of promoting mass migration while claiming to protect cultural heritage.
Trump urged countries to reject international policies that, in his view, weakened national governments or transferred authority to unelected global institutions.
The International Criminal Court was established through the Rome Statute and began operating in 2002. It investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression when national courts are unable or unwilling to act.
The court has 125 member countries. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute and does not accept the ICC’s jurisdiction over American personnel without US consent.
Washington’s objections to the court have continued under both Republican and Democratic administrations, although the intensity of the confrontation has varied.
(IANS)
