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The US President does not usually take advice, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's social media statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing the administration from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Before resuming office this year, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts state that the threats are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

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

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a gunman targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized police units that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

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