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The US President is not typically known for advice, particularly from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and compliment the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to move against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, such as an X post by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's latest intervention occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm methods employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's online statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made amid online attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, including by Bukele.

In 2021, right after commencing a second term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They openly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

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

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’s objectives, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently