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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from international figures who often attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, such as an X post by former supporter the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's latest remarks occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using similar authoritarian methods used by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's social media call recently was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's order to stop removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during social media criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts 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 comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal 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 threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

“The government 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 courts,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize the courts by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

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

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant aiming at Salas.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized police units that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the government's aims, Scheppele said that “removing a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently