The facts
The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption monitoring body, Greco, arguing that membership no longer serves US interests. The US formally notified the Strasbourg-based organization on Monday that it was leaving the Group of States against Corruption, known as Greco. This action is part of a broader effort by the administration to disengage from international bodies perceived as inefficient or out of step with its priorities. A US State Department spokesperson stated that the decision followed a review and signifies a move towards Washington acting independently rather than relying on shared international standards. The spokesperson added that the US Department of State's primary responsibility is to protect the American people and that the United States is focused on combating criminal threats directly impacting Americans, including corruption. The department concluded that membership, which requires an annual financial contribution, did not provide tangible benefits to US national security. Instead, the US will prioritize "higher-impact tools" against corruption, such as visa restrictions, sanctions, and targeted foreign assistance. The withdrawal proposal was dated September 1, according to a document seen by The Guardian. Greco's total budget for 2025 was approximately €3 million, funded by contributions from its 48 members. The US had been a participant since 2000, alongside Kazakhstan, as one of two non-European members. Russia and Belarus previously left the watchdog in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The Council of Europe described the US as a "valuable contributor" and expressed openness to resuming cooperation in the future.
Our take
Well, well, well. The United States of America, under the visionary leadership of the Trump administration, has officially decided that being part of an anti-corruption body is, get this, *bad for national security*. That’s right. Guarding against graft is now a direct threat to the homeland. What a fucking galaxy-brain move. The State Department, that bastion of principled diplomacy, sniffed that its annual contribution to a €3 million pot - a sum the Pentagon probably spends on coffee stirrers before lunch - just wasn’t giving America enough ‘tangible benefits.’ You know, unlike all the intangible benefits of not looking like a corrupt shitheap. The primary responsibility is to protect the American people, they said, presumably from the terrifying specter of accountability. So we’re out. We’re joining the cool kids who also decided international oversight is for suckers: Russia and fucking Belarus. The Council of Europe was polite enough to call us a ‘valuable contributor,’ which is diplomatic code for ‘we’re glad the embarrassing uncle is leaving the party.’ Now we’ll use ‘higher-impact tools’ like sanctions and visa bans. Because nothing says ‘we’re serious about corruption’ like quitting the group that defines the standards, so you can later impose your own made-up standards on everyone else. It’s the foreign policy equivalent of firing the referee so you can award yourself the trophy. A masterclass in petty, shortsighted, chest-thumping bullshit. The only thing transparent here is the administration’s pathetic vanity and its cowardly allergy to any rule it didn’t scribble on a napkin itself. What a bunch of clowns. Absolute fucking pricks. God bless America, I guess. We’re the ‘shithole country’ now, and we’re proudly flying the flag ourselves. Fuck off, world. We’ve got corruption to ‘prioritize’ at home, you un-American cunts.
