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Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, particularly from foreign leaders who often attempt to flatter and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, including an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's online statement recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking the administration from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's high of 630 threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) 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 recorded “a 54% increase in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

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

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit 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 “removing a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently