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Donald Trump is not typically known for guidance, especially from international figures who often seek to flatter and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the American court system also garnered support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's social media statement recently was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” 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 blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Before returning to power this year, the president urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top the previous year's high of over six hundred threats.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the threats are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise 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.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been common in recent years in multiple countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after starting a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly attack the judiciary 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 more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

“Everyone understands 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 these are specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

On 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