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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, particularly from international figures who often seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Trump allies, including an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's latest remarks occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian methods employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media call recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt deportation flights sending suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued during online attacks on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of threats and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

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

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in several countries, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way 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 Trump administration had taken cues from the models set by strongmen abroad.

“The government 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.

Citing instances such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

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

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“All knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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