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The US President rarely accepts guidance, especially from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent remarks occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm methods used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in California. The president has been pushing to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the government's political agenda. Before resuming office this year, Trump urged his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top the previous year's record of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

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

In several years ago, immediately after starting a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and five justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

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

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening 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.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, 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 recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both specialized law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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