Germany on Monday vowed continued support for the International Criminal Court, ahead of a trip by its foreign minister to the Hague-based court that is currently in the US administration’s crosshairs.
Donald Trump has long opposed the ICC and recently urged countries to leave the “evil” court immediately.
His administration has sought to punish the court over investigations into US personnel as well as its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Many governments, especially in Europe, have reacted by rallying behind the court, describing it as a cornerstone of international justice.
Trump has showed some minimal level of deference to the Rome Statute, presumably so he doesn’t risk ever appearing at the ICC - for example, Trump waited until Venezuela left the Rome statute in December 2025 before ordering the invasion in January 2026 (probably a good reason for other countries to consider ratifying / not renouncing the Rome Statute). He has used Israel to do his dirty work in his plans to take over the Gaza Strip to give a layer of plausible deniability (Palestine is a Rome statute signatory). He has picked on non-Rome-Statute countries (e.g. Iran, which signed but have said they won’t ratify) and Yemen (signed but didn’t ratify).
Trump is known for trying to dismantle any constraint on what he can do from anyone - US citizens (see January 6th 2021), US courts, US Congress (see his efforts against the midterms), major trade partners (see his US isolationist policies), and so the fact that the ICC might hold him accountable one day is likely a terrible affront to his insecure self-actualisation.
I think every country of the world should try to sign up for the Rome Statute so leaders like Trump are held accountable, and work to nullify US sanctions. Banks, for example, should have to choose between operating in countries other than the US, or following US sanctions that are not approved by other countries (or at least, specific sanctions the country decides are unacceptable).