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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, especially from international figures who often attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by urging the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online statement recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during social media criticism on the state's justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Before returning to power this year, the president directed his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

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

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

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

“The government is observing at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Citing examples such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” 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 murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“All knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. 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 law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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