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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, particularly from international figures who often attempt to flatter and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid social media criticism on the state's justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

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 “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the debate by repeating their argument that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

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

She highlighted a series of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

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