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Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Trump allies, including an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian methods used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, the president urged 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 increased climate of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent assertions of broad executive power, she noted: “They openly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

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

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's objectives, the expert said that “removing a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently