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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to flatter and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, including an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar strong-arm methods employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also made amid online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists 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 detailed report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise 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.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and five justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the debate by repeating their claim that the president has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized police units that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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