The US is not signatory to the ICC so the warrant for Putin is not enforceable.

There would be nothing stopping Trump from arresting him though. They could fly him to the Hague and dump him at the airport. Russia would be a headless chicken and Trump would be hailed as a global hero. Alternatively Trump can just lick his boots.

It would be deemed an unlawful arrest where the relevant authority do not have legal powers to arrest, detain and deport to another country. He wouldn’t be a hero if all backfired. I’m sure the Trump administration have pondered about this.

Not sure if you’ve been following the whole deportation situation happening here in the US, but ICE and Trump are arresting anyone who they think might be here illegally- sending them to any country they want. They’d just drop Poutin off in front of The Hague and then he can be lawfully arrested.

They are not foreign diplomats with diplomatic immunity, wanted under international warrant. They are using their domestic immigration laws. When International law comes into play, it is not so easily comparable to current domestic matters in my opinion.

I think the point is that laws don't seem to matter over there right now.

I got that. My point was that domestic law, whether complied with or not, is very different from international law. As much as I’d like to see Putin in cuffs.

You have a valid legal point. I just don't see Trump caring and who would hold him accountable anyway? The ICC is a toothless tiger and the rest of the world appears content to bow to the orange god.

There has been debate about the UN being a toothless tiger but I think ICC has more bite - see case of Milosevic. If Trump did decide to act on the ICC warrant or any other enforcement he would need political backing. He likes to score points, claim credit etc but this is too risky for him.

My understanding from my limited exposure to international law in law school was that it’s all treaty based and there’s little enforcement options if the US were to ignore a treaty and just arrest Poutin. I think most international courts are toothless because they rely on consent to be prosecuted.

And you can't think of another example of the current administration already doing this on a daily basis??

Are you saying that Trump administration are arresting foreign diplomats protected under international law and deporting them to another country?