The U.S. State Department has released its long-delayed 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, a substantially slimmed-down document that cuts overall length to about a third of last year’s edition. Drafted under President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the report markedly softens assessments of partner nations such as Israel and El Salvador, omits most discussion of LGBTQI rights and removes references to Gaza’s humanitarian toll. Washington now describes conditions in El Salvador as lacking “credible reports of significant human rights abuses,” a reversal from the 2023 findings. While easing pressure on traditional allies, the reworked report intensifies criticism of governments with which the administration has clashed. It cites “serious restrictions on freedom of expression” in the United Kingdom, Germany and other European states, and accuses Brazil and South Africa of deteriorating records on speech rights and racial discrimination. Russia’s assault on Ukraine is largely framed as the “Russia-Ukraine war,” and new thematic categories such as “Life and Liberty” replace detailed case studies found in earlier editions. Human-rights advocates and several foreign capitals denounced the overhaul as politically driven. Former State Department official Josh Paul called the product “more reflective of a Soviet propaganda release than of a democratic system,” while Brazil’s government said the document was another step in an escalating bilateral dispute. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce defended the restructuring, saying it improves readability and removes “politically biased demands.” The controversy underscores the Trump administration’s broader pivot away from multilateral rights advocacy toward an agenda that elevates freedom-of-speech grievances and downplays abuses by favored partners.