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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, especially from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to move against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's latest remarks occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian methods used by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's order to stop removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Before returning to power this year, Trump urged his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

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

Increasing Risk Data

According to data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise 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 co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion 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 rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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