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The US President rarely accepts guidance, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using similar authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made amid online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Risk Data

According to data collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal 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 GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in several countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples 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 laws that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They openly attack the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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