South Africa Rights Group Keeps US on Watchlist

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AUG 1

Above: U.S. Marines and National Guard troops outside a federal building in Los Angeles amid "No Kings" protests on July 4, 2025. Image copyright: Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images

story last updated AUG 1

The Spin

Democratic narrative

CIVICUS has again sounded the alarms that the current Trump administration may have dire and difficult-to-reverse effects on the American democracy as the U.S. president and his allies behave in the same way that dictatorial regimes often do. That Trump has authoritarian tendencies is no surprise, but the deployment of the military against protesters in Los Angeles and the use of force against journalists cross any red lines.

Salon

Republican narrative

This announcement is nothing but another political statement on the Trump administration — and one that shows that the globalist elite is in despair. After all, the George Soros-backed CIVICUS Monitor placed the U.S. on its watchlist only after USAID funding cuts, obviously indicating that this is mere retaliation rather than an objective evaluation of each country's civic space.

Amuse