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The US President is not typically known for 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 approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Trump allies, such as an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar strong-arm methods used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media statement recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid online attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

According to information collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the threats 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 alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly attack the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their argument that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief 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, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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