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The US President is not typically known for advice, especially from international figures who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's latest remarks occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is employing similar strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's online call last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid social media criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, the president urged his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of risks and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on information collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

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

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in multiple nations, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by strongmen abroad.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor 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 warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's objectives, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently