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The US President does not usually take counsel, particularly from international figures who often attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former supporter the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt deportation flights sending accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to send troops into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

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

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts 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 judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“All knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized police units that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

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