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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from international figures who frequently seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's latest intervention occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm methods used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's social media call last week was just the latest in a long series of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. The president has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Before returning to power this year, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

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

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's record of 630 threats.

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

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts state that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

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

In 2021, right after starting a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by the leader.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul 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.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“All knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the government's aims, the expert said that “impeaching a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently