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The US President is not typically known for guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to flatter and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention come at a time of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of over six hundred threats.

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

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts state that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In 2021, immediately after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“All knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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