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The US President rarely accepts guidance, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

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

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using similar authoritarian methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call last week was one more in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

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

The judge had issued injunctions preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists say that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

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 aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, including by Bukele.

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

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

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

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

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago 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 protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

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