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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from foreign leaders who often 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 White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered support from Maga figures, including an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media statement last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump urged his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is likely to exceed the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

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

“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 checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman targeting the judge.

“Everyone understands 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 Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’s objectives, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently