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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from international figures who often seek to flatter and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a different strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during social media attacks on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

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

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

According to data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for replacements selected by the leader.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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