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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm methods employed by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued during online attacks on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in the state then in California. The president has been eager to send troops into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Attacking Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

According to data collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 US justices, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national 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 state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

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 Trump administration members and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

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

International Strongman Playbook

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

In 2021, immediately after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the courts by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the debate by repeating their argument that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a gunman targeting the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's objectives, the expert said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently