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The US President rarely accepts advice, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to flatter and compliment the US president.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, including an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm tactics used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media statement last week was just the latest in a long series of provocations and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made amid online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's political agenda. Before resuming office this year, the president urged his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's record of over six hundred threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, right after starting a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly attack the courts by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

On the administration’s objectives, Scheppele said that “removing a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently