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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that the leader's recent remarks occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm tactics used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is likely to top the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been common in recent years in several nations, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

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

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

“The government 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.

Citing instances such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

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

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments 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 sociology and global studies 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 rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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