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Donald Trump is not typically known for guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

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

His appeal for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's recent intervention occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's online statement last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into the city, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

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 investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's record of over six hundred threats.

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

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in several nations, including by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and five justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

“The government is observing at these achievements and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any legislation that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They openly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

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

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

On the administration’s aims, the expert said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently