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

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

The president's online statement recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from mobilizing the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

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 administration's policy goals. Before returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of risks and coercion in the months 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 US justices, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's high of 630 threats.

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

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in several countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

“The administration is looking around at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any legislation that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a gunman targeting the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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