The Trump administration slapped a Canadian judge on the International Criminal Court with sanctions as the U.S. State Department unleashes a new wave of restrictions against judges it said had been instrumental in a past decision to investigate U.

The Trump administration escalated its fight against the International Criminal Court by imposing sanctions on four more court officials involved in work related to alleged Israeli and US war crimes.

The U.S. sanctioned two of the court’s deputy prosecutors as well as two judges, a French jurist and Kimberly Prost, a University of Manitoba graduate who spent nearly two decades with Justice Canada before moving overseas.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sanctioned four more members of the International Criminal Court for violating the sovereignty of non-member states.

"The Court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said

The Trump administration imposed new penalties on judges for the world’s highest criminal court in retaliation for its moves against Israeli leaders and the U.S. military.

International Criminal Court (ICC) chiefs on Thursday hit out at an American government decision to impose sanctions on four more of its top staff including a French and a Canadian judge over their involvement in cases against Israeli politicians and US military operations in Afghanistan.

It's a mix of legal, political, and sovereignty-related reasons.

The US has defiantly expanded efforts to hobble the International Criminal Court over its prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.