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The US President does not usually take counsel, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to flatter and admire the US president.

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a different approach by calling on the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian methods employed by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during online criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued injunctions blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the administration's policy goals. Before returning to power this year, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

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

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several countries, including by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s attorney general and five judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

“The administration is looking around at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized police units that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the government's objectives, Scheppele said that “impeaching a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently