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The US President rarely accepts guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable 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 call recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt removal operations transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during online criticism on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch troops into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In 2021, immediately after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s persistent assertions of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the debate by repeating their argument that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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