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The US President is not typically known for guidance, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an X post by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's social media call recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also made amid online criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, the president urged his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple countries, 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 remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats 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 executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at Salas.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

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

Government Goals

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