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Donald Trump is not typically known for advice, particularly from international figures who frequently seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention occur of unmatched threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm tactics employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

The president's online statement last week was just the latest in a long series of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made amid social media attacks on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Before returning to power recently, the president urged his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

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

In spring, 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 align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in several nations, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They openly attack the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

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

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

On the administration’s objectives, the expert said that “removing a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently