🔗 Share this article

Donald Trump is not typically known for counsel, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching 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 former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unprecedented 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 nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online statement recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid social media criticism on the state's justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to 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 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts say that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, immediately after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models set by strongmen abroad.

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

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

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

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism 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 so hard to do. {Right now|Currently