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The US President does not usually take guidance, especially from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

But, 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 removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Trump allies, including an social media message by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's online statement recently was one more in a string of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, the president urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

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

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 allies align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in several countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

“The government is observing at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Citing examples such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad 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 reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

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

Government Goals

Regarding the government's objectives, 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