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Donald Trump is not typically known for counsel, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

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

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's social media call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also made amid online criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state 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 “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in several countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults 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 the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman aiming at the judge.

“Everyone understands 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 Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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