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Donald Trump rarely accepts advice, especially from international figures who often seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media statement recently was just the latest in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

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

Global Strongman Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

“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 weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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