Trump Supporters Endorse El Salvador Leader's Call for Trump to Target American Judiciary

The US President does not usually take guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the White House to emulate his actions in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered support from Trump allies, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm tactics used by rulers in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's online call last week was just the latest in a string of taunts and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the national guard, initially in Oregon then in California. Trump has been pushing to send troops into the city, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the administration's political agenda. Before resuming office recently, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

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

Increasing Risk Data

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, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already surpassed 2022, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the threats are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with rising aggressive posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening 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 executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent assertions of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a assailant targeting Salas.

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

“US justices are protected by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on justices.”

Administration Aims

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