Trump Figures Endorse El Salvador Leader's Call for Trump to Crack Down on US Judiciary

Donald Trump is not typically known for counsel, particularly from international figures who often attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a different strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unmatched dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the president's team is using similar authoritarian methods employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued during online criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a recent press gaggle.

Immergut had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. The president has been pushing to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Judges

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power this year, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have highlighted a increased atmosphere of risks and intimidation in the months since he returned to the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

According to information collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's record of 630 reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, targeting, surveillance, or violence directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been common in the past decade in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s attorney general and several justices on the supreme court. The judges, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial purges recently; and attempts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

“The administration is looking around at these successes and setbacks. They know they’re not going to be able to enact any laws that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly attack the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor 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 Putin, and has warned about rising threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman targeting Salas.

“All understands what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And those are both dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Government Goals

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