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Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, especially from international figures who frequently seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by urging the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during social media attacks on the state's justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

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. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on information collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

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

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious 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 impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

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

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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