The new Israel report is simply far shorter than the original draft, with no significant discussion of the humanitarian crisis or high death toll in Gaza. El Salvador is a blatant whitewash. “There were no credible reports of significant human rights abuses,” the latest report claims. By contrast, the previous report spoke of “significant human rights issues” and specifically mentioned harsh, even lethal prison conditions. An Amnesty International report also covering 2024 speaks of “arbitrary detentions and human rights violations” in El Salvador, as well as “serious failings in the judicial system.” In overcrowded prisons, “detention conditions were inhumane, with reports of torture and other ill-treatment.” Here, the State Department’s motivation is not hard to guess. Because the Trump administration is sending prisoners to El Salvador, the department massaged the report to avoid the glaring truth: The U.S. is endangering people by sending them to Salvadoran prisons.

The report on Germany, a highly functional democracy, is equally strange. The State report speaks of “significant human rights issues,” including “restrictions on freedom of expression.” One specific example: German law “required internet companies, including U.S. internet platforms, to take down hate speech within 24 hours or face stiff fines.” Germans, in other words, are being called human-rights abusers because they continue to outlaw Nazi propaganda, as they have done since 1945. The Trump administration’s motives are clear here too. The goal is to please U.S. tech companies, notably X, that find it convenient or profitable to spread Nazi propaganda, and perhaps to help the Alternative for Germany, the far-right party publicly praised and courted by J. D. Vance.