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The US President rarely accepts guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently seek to praise and admire the American leader.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has adopted a different strategy by urging the White House to emulate his actions in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts note that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and individual judges in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm methods used by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement last week was one more in a long series of provocations and claims he has made against the US's legal system, such as a spring assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during social media attacks on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Targeting Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the administration's policy goals. Prior to returning to power this year, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's record of over six hundred threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Experts state that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

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

In 2021, right after starting a new term despite legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied 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 successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any laws that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's relentless assertions of broad executive power, she added: “They openly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor 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 warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

On the government's aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently