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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from international figures who often attempt to flatter and compliment the American leader.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a different strategy by urging the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “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 the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm tactics used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also made amid social media attacks on the state's justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking the administration from deploying the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to send troops into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Before returning to power this year, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, including by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” 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 “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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