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Donald Trump does not usually take guidance, particularly from international figures who often attempt to praise and admire the US president.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

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

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable authoritarian tactics used by leaders in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his country's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid online attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the administration's policy goals. Before returning to power recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased climate of risks and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, leading to 805 investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to exceed the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts say that the threats are a result of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Attacking the courts is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

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

In several years ago, right after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and five judges on the constitutional court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for replacements hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say 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 disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Citing examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

Regarding the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently