Washington DC - Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to "dismantle" the International Criminal Court (ICC) and claimed it has been "waging a war" against the US via its enforcement of international law.

In a video statement posted to X, Rubio launched an attack on the ICC, accusing it of being an "unaccountable arbiter of a new global law" that is empowered to arrest people at will and "threaten American sovereignty."

Rubio argued that an unelected powerful elite in "far-away places" want to undermine the US' judicial system and exert control over people's laws, country, and life.

"As we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country," Rubio said. "Not with bullets of missiles, but with statutes, compacts, and the force of so-called 'international law.'"

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He accused the ICC of being a "global tribunal staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited."

The term "globalist" is a slur often repeated by the far-right which has a deeply antisemitic history and connotation.

In a separate piece in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Rubio vowed to use "all the tools at our government's disposal" to dismantle the ICC "brick by brick."

A State Department official cited by CNN said the Trump administration will use tools such as travel bans, visa revocations, and severe sanctions to complete that process.

According to the official, countries that "partner with US law enforcement, host a US military presence, or benefit from the broader US security umbrella are being called upon to reject the ICC's purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen."

The move comes as the ICC continues to uphold arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.