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The US President does not usually take guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who often seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts say that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable strong-arm methods used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the American judiciary, including a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during social media attacks on the state's federal judge Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had issued injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to dispatch troops into Portland, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the government's political agenda. Before resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of risks and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 threats to 395 US justices, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

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

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy 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.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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