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The US President is not typically known for advice, particularly from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during social media attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” 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 attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump directed his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year 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 threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, targeting, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been common in recent years in multiple nations, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

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

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's persistent assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

“All knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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