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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from international figures who often seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the American court system also garnered support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say 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 Trump administration is using similar authoritarian tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's online call last week was just the latest in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Justices

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the administration's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the administration’s objectives, the expert said that “removing a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently