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The US President is not typically known for advice, especially from foreign leaders who often attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct approach by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using similar strong-arm tactics used by rulers in countries such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media statement last week was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to stop removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during social media criticism on the state's federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking Trump 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 leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 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 surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

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

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious 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 physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been common in recent years in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

“The government 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 instances such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

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

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

“All 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 federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the government's objectives, the expert said that “removing a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently