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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar authoritarian methods used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's social media call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Before returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Information by the university's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and five judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They openly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening 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 the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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