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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a different strategy by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the American court system also received backing from Trump allies, including an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian methods employed by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop deportation flights sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing the administration from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch troops 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 Justices

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the government's policy goals. Before returning to power this year, Trump directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a increased climate of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, targeting, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts state that the threats 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 alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in several countries, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly attack the courts by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

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

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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