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Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

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

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent intervention occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call recently was just the latest in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to halt deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

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

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation 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 claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models 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 laws that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They openly attack the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the debate by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science 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 warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

On 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