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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from foreign leaders who often attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Trump allies, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online statement last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased climate of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts say that the threats are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

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

“The administration is looking around at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any laws that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize 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 repeating their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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