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The US President does not usually take guidance, especially from international figures who often attempt to praise and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts note that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using similar strong-arm methods employed by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media call last week was one more in a long series of provocations and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made amid social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, the president directed his supporters against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

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

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric 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 align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

Global 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 despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They directly attack the judiciary by repeating 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 more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats 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.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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