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The US President does not usually take counsel, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different approach by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the American court system also garnered support from Trump allies, including an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts say that Bukele's latest 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 similar strong-arm methods employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, the European state, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt deportation flights transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also made amid social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, the president directed his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In 2021, right after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their argument that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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