Trump Supporters Back El Salvador Leader's Plea for US President to Target American Judiciary

The US President is not typically known for advice, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Bukele has followed a distinct approach by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in removing what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered support from Maga figures, including an X post by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the president's team is employing comparable strong-arm methods used by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a spring claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during online attacks on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in the state then in California. The president has been eager to dispatch troops into the city, which the leader has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting 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 government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power this year, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 investigations. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Data from the university's research project indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies coincide with rising aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a 54% increase in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

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

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding 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 laws that would undermine the courts,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They openly criticize the courts by repeating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. 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, highly concerning for judicial review and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's objectives, the expert said that “impeaching a US justice is highly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently