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Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

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

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's latest remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, the president directed his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

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

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats 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 GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after commencing a second term despite legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor 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 observing at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the debate by repeating their claim that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

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

Coercion Methods

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

She pointed to a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently