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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian methods employed by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online call last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power this year, Trump urged his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 investigations. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts state that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Tactics

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

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults 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 Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

“The administration is looking around at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They openly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

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

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

On the administration’s objectives, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently