The US added to an international democracy monitoring list for the first time in history

The recent actions of the Trump administration raise serious concerns within Civicus Monitor, an international non-profit organization that describes itself as “the global alliance of civil society,” bringing together an influential network of organizations at local, national, regional, and international levels, covering the entire spectrum of civil society.

As a result of recent observations, Civicus has added the United States to its watch list of countries where civil liberties are deteriorating rapidly.

The United States has been added to the list, updated every three to four months, alongside Italy, Pakistan, Serbia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The nonprofit organization has added the United States citing recent actions by the Trump administration. 

Among these actions are the mass layoffs of federal employees, the appointment of loyalists of the president to key positions, the withdrawal from international organizations, the restriction of media access, and the repression of protesters.

The United States has been classified as «shrinking» by the Civicus Monitor, which assesses the civic space of countries according to five levels: «open», «narrowed», «obstructed», «repressed», and «closed».

According to the organization, since taking office, Trump has signed 125 decrees concerning for democracy, while dismantling federal policies with major consequences on human rights and the rule of law.

Freedom of speech and rights to the free press is also being questioned, particularly after the exclusion of Associated Press journalists from Trump’s environment for using the words “Gulf of Mexico” instead of the new name provided by Trump. 

The administration has also restricted access to the media, threatening the freedom of press and limiting independent coverage of government affairs by selecting the media allowed to cover the White House.

Furthermore, according to the organization, the first months of 2025 were marked by the adoption of worrying laws in several American states, reinforcing restrictions on citizens’ rights to peacefully protest.

All these troubling actions since the beginning of Trump’s second term herald an uncertain future for a country that claimed to be the freest in the world, but is now closely monitored by democracies around the globe.