The Netherlands is bracing for potentially devastating U.S. sanctions against ICC

The Netherlands is preparing for the United States to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court in the latest escalation of the Trump administration's attacks on the global tribunal.

Dutch officials have been told by the United States that potentially devastating sanctions on the institution are forthcoming, diplomatic and government officials with knowledge of the briefings told The Associated Press . They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

The Netherlands is looking at ways to help the court maintain payments to staff and to protected witnesses, and to ensure that security at the detention facility is not disrupted.

Washington has already sanctioned more than a dozen current and former staff members, including half of the court's sitting judges, in what Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described as a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court.”