U.S. President Donald Trump’s beef with the U.N.-backed court stretches back to his first term in office. During the first Trump presidency, the ICC launched an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. troops and intelligence officers in Afghanistan—infuriating Trump and sparking an initial round of U.S. sanctions.

The State Department announced sanctions against four ICC officials over their actions against Americans and Israelis. The ICC denounced the sanctions as an attack on the court's independence.