STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Executive overreach and foreign aid funding cuts during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first six months in office have hurt international democratization efforts and encouraged populist leaders around the world, an intergovernmental democracy watchdog said on Thursday.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said it issued 20 alerts between January and April 2025 – twice as many as in any of the previous two full years – documenting instances in which the U.S. government eroded rules, institutions and norms that shape the country’s democracy.

It named efforts to restrict academic freedom, criminalize protest activity, question the legitimacy of certified elections, selectively restrict media access to the executive and circumvent norm

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