Authoritarian leaders in Turkey, Hungary, and Poland have followed a similar

pattern of verba lly attacking the legitimacy of the courts when the judiciary takes

steps to curb executive actions. These strongmen have then acted upon this

dangerous anti-judicial rhetoric by purging the courts, increasing the ruling party’s

power to appoint loyalist judges, diminishing the courts’ jurisdiction, and ref using

to abide by adverse c ourt orders. President Trump’s attacks on the courts are

alarming not only because they delegitimize the judiciary, but also because they

resemble the scripts these authoritarian leaders have employed to pave the way for

the demise of the courts and the decline of democracy in their regimes.