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The US President is not typically known for counsel, especially from international figures who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former supporter the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian methods employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's online statement recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the national guard, first in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to send troops into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

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

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline 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 pass any legislation that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They openly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

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