Trump Supporters Endorse El Salvador Leader's Plea for Trump to Crack Down on US Judiciary

Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from international figures who frequently seek to praise and compliment the US president.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by urging the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “dishonest judges.”

The call for Trump to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's latest intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call recently was one more in a long series of taunts and claims he has leveled 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 ruling to stop deportation flights sending suspected undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also made amid online attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had issued injunctions blocking the administration from mobilizing the national guard, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to send troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or violence directed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Specialists say that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters coincide with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks 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 warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in several nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, immediately after starting a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a 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 other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, academic of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the government's objectives, the expert said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently