Trump withdraws US from European anti-corruption body GRECO
The Trump administration has withdrawn the US from the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption, saying it "does not provide tangible benefits to US national security".
The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption monitoring body, in its latest move to disengage from international and multilateral organisations.
The Council of Europe said on Tuesday that the US had formally notified it of the withdrawal, and a US official confirmed the notification was submitted on Monday, ahead of a public State Department announcement. Only two other countries have ever left GRECO: Russia and Belarus.
The State Department said US participation, which requires an annual monetary contribution, “does not provide tangible benefits to US national security”. “The era of writing blank checks to international bureaucracies is over,” it said, adding it would instead prioritise visa restrictions, sanctions and targeted foreign assistance.
The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe said the US had been “a valuable contributor” to GRECO’s work since 2000 and that GRECO “remains open to resuming cooperation with the United States in the future”.
GRECO was created in 1999 by the Council of Europe to monitor compliance with its anti-corruption standards, and the US joined a year after its founding.
The move came a week after the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the US had declined to invite its members to observe November’s congressional midterm elections. Washington has already left the World Health Organization and the UN Human Rights Council, and exited the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission in January.
Sources
- Associated Press: “US withdraws from European anti-corruption panel in latest shift away from global groups” — https://www.akronnewsreporter.com/2026/09/29/trump-corruption-watchdog/
- Gulf News (AP): “Council of Europe calls US a ‘valuable contributor’ as it exits GRECO” — https://gulfnews.com/world/americas/us-withdraws-from-european-anti-corruption-panel-in-latest-shift-away-from-global-groups-1.500692778
- European Interest: “US pulls out of European anti-corruption panel” — https://www.europeaninterest.eu/us-pulls-out-of-european-anti-corruption-panel/
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