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The US President does not usually take advice, particularly from international figures who often attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

However, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by calling on the Trump administration to follow his example in removing so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent remarks occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is using comparable strong-arm methods used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during online criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the national guard, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to send troops into the city, which the president has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a heightened climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred US justices, giving rise to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

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

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in several countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for replacements selected by the leader.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a structure that provides no simple method for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the Trump administration had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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