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The US President rarely accepts counsel, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the US president.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar authoritarian methods used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made amid online criticism on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president directed his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in several countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges Trump 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 models set by strongmen abroad.

“The administration is observing at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing examples such as the advisor's relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the debate by repeating their argument that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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