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

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

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts note that the leader's latest intervention occur of unprecedented dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar authoritarian tactics used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during online criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in California. Trump has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

According to information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in several countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges recently; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“The administration is looking around at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They openly attack the judiciary by repeating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“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 separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“Everyone understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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