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Donald Trump is not typically known for guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm methods used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online statement recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt deportation flights sending suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during social media attacks on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in several nations, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, right after starting a second term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a structure 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 authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation 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 court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’s aims, the expert said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently