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The US President is not typically known for advice, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a different approach by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking the administration from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent protests outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his followers 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 heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

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

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

“The government is observing at these achievements and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's relentless 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 government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. 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, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the government's aims, Scheppele said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently