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Donald Trump is not typically known for counsel, particularly from foreign leaders who often attempt to flatter and admire the US president.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different approach by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Trump allies, including an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued amid online criticism on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders blocking Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to dispatch troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Before returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

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

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's high of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in several countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

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

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had learned from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

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

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard 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, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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