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The US President does not usually take counsel, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received backing from Trump allies, including an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts say that the leader's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm methods used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

The president's online statement recently was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the US's legal system, such as a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to halt removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during social media attacks on the state's federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

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

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been common in recent years in several countries, including by Bukele.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“The government is looking around at these successes 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 nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

On the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently