Pete Hegseth recently echoed the administration’s stance against the International Criminal Court by quoting part of a speech by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In an X post, Hegseth shared a State Department post with a single line: “Stop quoting laws to MEN WITH SWORDS.”
Rubio’s comments about the ICC were made during a speech to the Federalist Society in Washington on November 13. According to Reuters, Rubio argued that the United States should not submit to international law when it interferes with national actions. During his address, as shared on X, Rubio characterized the ICC as a “fake court” and an “unelected world tribunal which claims to supersede the laws of sovereign states.”
He stated, “Americans have never agreed to submit to the ICC’s authority, but that court and its allies in the global bureaucracy have appointed themselves judge and jury and executioner of the international order.” Rubio further claimed, “They think they have the right to rule over everyone. But they are accountable to no one. Armed with the power to investigate, to prosecute, to persecute, and to jail our citizens according to laws we neither consent nor control.”
The line Hegseth quoted traces back to a Roman general
To applause from the conservative legal society, Rubio suggested that if the court attempted to enforce its decrees against Americans, the United States would respond with force, according to Reuters. He invoked the Roman general Pompey, who reportedly used the phrase “Stop quoting laws to men with swords” when faced with those trying to invoke city charters against his legions.
Al Jazeera reports that Rubio has previously declared that President Trump will never allow the ICC to prosecute Americans and has warned that the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the court brick by brick. As part of these efforts, the administration sanctioned the ICC last month, which has already had a deep impact on those working within the ICC.
According to CBC, Canadian ICC judge Kimberly Prost began to feel the impact of the sanctions immediately, noting, “These economic sanctions are not symbolic in any way.” Prost explained that her credit cards were cancelled, impacting routine tasks like ordering an Uber, booking a hotel, or buying a theatre ticket. Additionally, her access to banking services was hindered due to the broad influence of the U.S. financial system, which always leaves her wondering if bank transfers would even work.
Beyond personal banking, the sanctions extended to essential digital tools. CBC noted that Prost and her colleagues were cut off from American-based services, including Google, iCloud, and Amazon accounts. While the U.S. allowed the court temporary access to certain information technology and banking services in October to allow for progress on U.S. concerns, Prost has expressed concern that losing this access could have a crippling effect on the court’s operations.
Part of the tension between the United States and the ICC has been fueled by investigations into actions by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, which have drawn calls to arrest Netanyahu in New York. According to Al Jazeera, the ICC recently decided to halt its prosecutor’s investigations into alleged crimes by American troops in Afghanistan, choosing instead to focus on the Taliban’s actions since 2021.
The court reportedly cited significant limitations in the ability to conduct investigations and secure evidence. Prost was among the judges who authorized that investigation in 2020, which the State Department cited when it sanctioned her, according to Global News. Despite this shift, the U.S. remains firm in its refusal to recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
Published: Nov 15, 2026 01:00 pm