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

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

His appeal for Trump to move against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar authoritarian methods used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media statement last week was just the latest in a string of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during online criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in California. 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 federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the threats are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’s objectives, the expert said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently