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The US President rarely accepts advice, especially from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a different approach by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was one more in a long series of provocations and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to dispatch troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power this year, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

According to data collected by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred 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 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

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

“They persist in redefine the debate by repeating their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, 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 residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

“All knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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