Trump Figures Back El Salvador Leader's Call for US President to Target US Judges

Donald Trump rarely accepts guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for Trump to move against the US judiciary also received support from Trump allies, including an X post by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's latest intervention come at a time of unprecedented threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable strong-arm methods used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's online call recently was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “experiencing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during online attacks on the state's justice Karin Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders preventing the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. The president has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful protests outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise impeded the government's political agenda. Before returning to power recently, Trump directed his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The threats are not just happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, harassment, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Analysis on Threat Sources

Specialists state that the intimidation are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and allies align with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months 2025, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Playbook

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by new appointees selected by the leader.

The action echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the intimidation and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians abroad.

“The administration is observing at these achievements and failures. 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 relentless claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

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

The professor said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that sit institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been spearheading the criticism on federal judges.”

Government Goals

Regarding the administration’s aims, Scheppele said that “impeaching a federal judge is highly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently