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Donald Trump rarely accepts advice, particularly from international figures who often attempt to flatter and admire the US president.

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 removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump urged his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's high of 630 threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in multiple countries, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and five justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the examples 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 laws that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by repeating their claim 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 legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading 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