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Donald Trump rarely accepts counsel, particularly from international figures who frequently seek to flatter and compliment the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's latest remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is employing comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was one more in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been pushing to send troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, 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 policy goals. Prior to returning to power this year, the president urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased climate of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Experts state that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

This progression towards autocracy has been common in recent years in multiple nations, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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