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Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, especially from international figures who frequently seek to flatter and admire the US president.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was one more in a string of provocations 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 federal judge's order to stop deportation flights sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during social media criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top 2023's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating aggressive 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 first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing examples such as the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“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 sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman targeting Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

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

Government Goals

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