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Donald Trump rarely accepts counsel, especially from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

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

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts say that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's online call last week was just the latest in a long series of provocations and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt removal operations transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during social media criticism on the state's justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

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

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in multiple nations, 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 country’s attorney general and five justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

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 abroad.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power 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. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy 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.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising threats 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 customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“All knows 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 dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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