Executive overreach and foreign aid funding cuts during US President Donald Trump's first six months in office have hurt international democratisation efforts and encouraged populist leaders around the world, an intergovernmental democracy watchdog says.

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 US government eroded rules, institutions and norms that shape the country's democracy.

It named efforts to restrict academic freedom, criminalise protest activity, question the legitimacy of certified elections, selectively restrict media access to the executive and circumvent normal due process.

"In less than six mo

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