🔗 Share this article

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

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered backing 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 calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's latest remarks occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call recently was just the latest in a string of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to stop deportation flights transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent protests outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased climate of threats and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of 630 reported incidents.

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

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“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.

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“Everyone understands 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 those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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