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Donald Trump is not typically known for guidance, especially from international figures who often seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media statement recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during social media attacks on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the government's political agenda. Before resuming office this year, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Risk Data

According to information collected by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in several countries, including by Bukele.

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

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges Trump opposes.

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

“The government is looking around at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They openly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their argument that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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