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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a different approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, such as an X post by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's social media call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's order to stop removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid online attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to send soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts state that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in several countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

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

“The government is looking around at these achievements and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

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

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “removing a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently