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The US President rarely accepts counsel, especially from international figures who often attempt to flatter and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the American court system also garnered support from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

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

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, the president urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top the previous year's high of 630 threats.

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

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists state 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 comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in calls for removal 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.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration 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 undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They directly attack the judiciary by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“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.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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