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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 adopted a different strategy by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar authoritarian tactics used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to halt deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued during social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power this year, the president urged his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists say that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In 2021, immediately after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

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

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They directly attack the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by repeating their argument that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions 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 the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized police units that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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