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Donald Trump is not typically known for guidance, especially from foreign leaders 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 calling on the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent intervention 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 authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media call recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on the state's justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the government's policy goals. 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.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple nations, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's aims, the expert said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently