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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using similar strong-arm methods employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to halt removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during online criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to top 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

“The government is observing at these achievements and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any legislation that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent assertions of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their argument that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts 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.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian 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 unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther 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. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

On 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