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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from international figures who often attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a different 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 garnered support from Trump allies, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian methods used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on the state's justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Before returning to power this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

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

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 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. Targeting the courts is another move in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

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

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

Pointing to instances 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 co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their argument that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances 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 eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. 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.”

Government Goals

On the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently