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Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, particularly from international figures who often seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

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

The call for Trump to move against the American court system also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online call last week was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

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

Immergut had ordered injunctions blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to send troops into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline 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 enact any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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