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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, including an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is employing comparable authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's online call last week was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in California. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's political agenda. Before resuming office this year, the president urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

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

In 2021, right after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the debate by repeating their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity 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, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

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

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

On the administration’s objectives, the expert said that “removing a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently