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Donald Trump rarely accepts advice, especially from international figures who often attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

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

The call for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received support from Maga figures, such as an X post by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Experts say that the leader's recent intervention occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm methods used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's order to halt deportation flights sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during online attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

Record of Attacking Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the government's political agenda. Before resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to exceed the previous year's high of 630 reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, harassment, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

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

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards autocracy has been common in recent years in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, immediately after commencing a second term despite legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s top prosecutor and five justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees hand picked by Bukele.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They openly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by emphasizing their argument that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' sole safeguard is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “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 judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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