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

But, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received backing from Trump allies, including an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's latest remarks occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made amid social media attacks on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power this year, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

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

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been common in recent years in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the models set by strongmen overseas.

“The administration is looking around at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing examples such as the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

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

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently