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The US President does not usually take counsel, particularly from international figures who often seek to praise and admire the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, including an X post by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement recently was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt deportation flights transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made amid social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in the state then in California. The president has been eager to send soldiers into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump directed his followers against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Experts state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

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

In several years ago, right after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by strongmen abroad.

“The government is observing at these successes and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Citing instances such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, 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 the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant 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 Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's aims, the expert said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently