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Donald Trump is not typically known for counsel, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has followed a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm tactics used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media call recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the national guard, first in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands 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 founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Tactics

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the intimidation 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 dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the models set by authoritarians 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 weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the courts by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about rising threats 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 Daniel Anderl, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“All knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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