Trump would have proposed an alliance to Xi and Putin against the International Criminal Court
The Financial Times assures that Trump proposed coordinating against the authority of the ICC
US President Donald Trump suggested last week to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to join forces with Russian President Vladimir Putin against the International Criminal Court (ICC), the British newspaper 'Financial Times' reported this Tuesday.
Citing “sources familiar with these conversations,” the newspaper states that this was one of the topics that arose during Donald Trump's visit to China last week, in which the two held a long interview behind closed doors in Beijing.
The White House has refused to comment on this point, according to the FT, which does not give more details about this Trump proposal or how it was received by the Chinese leader.
None of the three countries – the United States, China and Russia – recognize the authority of the ICC and its jurisdiction over that of nation states.
However, the opposition from the US and Russia is more frontal than that from China, which, although it denies the court based in The Hague jurisdiction over Chinese territory, has supported its activity in other conflicts, such as in Libya or Sudan.
In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against President Putin for his responsibility in “war crimes” in Ukraine. That has not prevented him from making numerous trips since that date, mainly to countries in the Soviet orbit, but also to the US (Alaska), China or India, all of them in 2025. None of the three recognize that court.
As for the United States, no government—neither Democrat nor Republican—has ever recognized the International Criminal Court (ICC).
However, current President Trump's animosity against the court has escalated several integers by imposing economic sanctions and travel restrictions against prosecutor Karim Khan, alleging that the court has taken “illegitimate and baseless actions against the United States and its close ally Israel,” according to the February 2025 presidential order.
The ICC is one of the pillars of the world order that Trump has been determined to discredit since his return to power in this second term, along with the UN and its various agencies or agreements (such as the Paris climate agreements).