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The US President does not usually take advice, especially from international figures who frequently seek to flatter and compliment the American leader.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has adopted a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, the president directed his followers 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 highlighted a heightened atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on information collected by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Experts 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 highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In several years ago, right after starting a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had learned 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 legislation that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They directly attack the courts by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening 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

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently