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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, particularly from international figures who frequently seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, including an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken 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 American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during social media criticism on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest 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 troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in several nations, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements 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 rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen 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 undermine the courts,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They directly attack the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the debate by repeating their argument that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

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 spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’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