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The US President does not usually take advice, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, such as an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm tactics used by rulers in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid social media criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

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

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method 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 Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They openly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther 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 protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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