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Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts say that the leader's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian methods used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online statement last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to stop removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's high of over six hundred threats.

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 intimidation, targeting, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts say that the threats are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

This progression 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 despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned from the models set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this other co-equal 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 institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” 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 judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

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