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Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from international figures who often attempt to flatter and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that the leader's latest intervention come at a time of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian tactics used by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media statement recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made amid online attacks on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest media briefing.

The judge had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been common in the past decade in multiple nations, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

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

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the debate by repeating their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy 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 current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders 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 aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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