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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's latest intervention occur of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using similar authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's online call recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to stop deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top the previous year's high of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands 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.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in several countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining 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 provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the courts 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 president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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