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Donald Trump rarely accepts counsel, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's latest remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's social media call last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations sending suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during online criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been eager to send troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to 805 investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to exceed the previous year's record of 630 threats.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Information by the university's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been common in recent years in several nations, including by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, right after starting a new term despite legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him 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 recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“The government is observing at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any laws that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the discussion by repeating their argument that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the child of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the administration’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