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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and compliment the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the White House to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm tactics used by rulers in countries such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media statement last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions blocking the administration from mobilizing the national guard, first in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

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

Expert Insights on Root Causes

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

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 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 online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in several countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and five judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

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

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the courts by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the debate by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening 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

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“All knows 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 Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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