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The US President is not typically known for advice, especially from international figures who frequently seek to praise and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, such as an X post by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm tactics used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. The president has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, including by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

“The administration 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.

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out 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 food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the government's aims, the expert said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently