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

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received backing from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's recent remarks occur of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in nations such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's online statement recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during online attacks on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the government's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts say that the threats are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

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

“The administration is looking around at these successes and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

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

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries 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. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the administration’s aims, the expert said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently