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Donald Trump rarely accepts advice, especially from international figures who often attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's online statement recently was just the latest in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to stop removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on the state's federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send troops into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of risks and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information collected 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. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

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

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

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

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a structure 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 free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

“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 judiciary,” she said.

Citing examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad executive power, she added: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant targeting 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 federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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