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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

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

The call for the president to move against the American court system also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm methods used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made amid online criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information collected by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight 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 “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. 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 sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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