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Donald Trump is not typically known for guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to praise and admire the US president.

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

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian tactics used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made amid social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Before returning to power this year, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts state that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for impeachment and violent threats 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 threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

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

In 2021, right after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by Bukele.

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

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's persistent assertions of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial 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 decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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