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Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in removing what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also received backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by former supporter the billionaire, who has in the past amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm methods used by rulers in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop deportation flights transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also made during online attacks on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent media briefing.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to 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 threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top the previous year's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Specialists say that the threats are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% 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 the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and five judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the debate by repeating their claim 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 public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

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

She highlighted a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

Regarding the administration’s objectives, Scheppele said that “removing a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently