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Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and admire the US president.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, including an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian methods employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch troops into Portland, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

“The government 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 the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe 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: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

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

Administration Aims

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