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Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, particularly from international figures who often attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former supporter the billionaire, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to halt deportation flights sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to send troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Justices

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased climate of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, leading to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts say that the threats are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after starting a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“The government is looking around at these successes and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the government's objectives, the expert said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently