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The US President rarely accepts guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

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

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online statement last week was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop deportation flights sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during social media criticism on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into the city, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

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

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

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

“They persist in redefine the debate by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, 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 residence in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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