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Donald Trump rarely accepts counsel, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to praise 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 follow his example in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the American court system also received backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, the president urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, 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 coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

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

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the models 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 undermine the courts,” she said.

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

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

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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