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Donald Trump is not typically known for counsel, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and admire the American leader.

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

His appeal for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's latest intervention occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online statement recently was one more in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power this year, the president directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after starting a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

“The government is observing at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent assertions of broad executive power, she added: “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 redefine the debate by repeating their argument that the executive has more power than this other co-equal 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 decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

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

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the government's objectives, 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