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The US President is not typically known for guidance, particularly from international figures who often seek to praise and compliment the American leader.

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

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent intervention occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm methods employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

The president's social media call recently was one more in a string of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

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

The judge had issued injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send troops into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, non-violent protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred US justices, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's high of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been common in recent years in several countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to weaken 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 the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“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 instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

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

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

Government Goals

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