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

Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, especially from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and admire the American leader.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for Trump to take action against the American court system also received support from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time supporter the billionaire, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's latest remarks occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar authoritarian methods employed by rulers in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the US's legal system, such as a spring assertion that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a court's order to halt removal operations sending suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest press gaggle.

Immergut had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in the state then in California. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

History of Targeting Justices

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Before resuming office this year, Trump directed his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

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

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in the current year through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, giving rise to more than eight hundred investigations. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not only happening at the federal level. Data from Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the watchdog group published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and demands for ouster. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after starting a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to remove the nation's top prosecutor and several justices on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The action echoed the Hungarian leader's overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges the administration disapproves of.

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

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

Citing instances such as Miller’s persistent assertions of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the debate by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about judgments 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 sociology and global studies at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the such as Orbán and Putin, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted food orders with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. You are a target,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And those are both specialized police units that sit institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the attacks on federal judges.”

Government Goals

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