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

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using similar authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's online statement recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during online attacks on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Before returning to power this year, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by the leader.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to 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 continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation 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 judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

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

She pointed to a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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