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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, especially from international figures who frequently seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the White House to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an X post by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian methods used by rulers in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a court's order to stop deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during social media criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Specialists state that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

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

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

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

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

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

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

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation 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 the political system.”

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 the Russian, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a assailant targeting the judge.

“All knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

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