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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that Bukele's latest remarks occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm methods employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's online statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to halt removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in California. The president has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, 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 collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top the previous year's record of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

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

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

This progression towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the debate by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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