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The US President does not usually take advice, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm methods used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media statement last week was one more in a long series of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 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 intimidation are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

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

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, 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 highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

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

Government Goals

On the government's aims, Scheppele said that “removing a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently