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

The US President is not typically known for advice, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to praise and compliment the US president.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct strategy by urging the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “dishonest judges.”

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

Growing Risks to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that Bukele's latest intervention occur of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing similar authoritarian tactics used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

Bukele's social media call recently was just the latest in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, such as a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to stop removal operations transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Criticism on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during social media criticism on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, former AG Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

Immergut had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, first in the state then in California. The president has been pushing to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a long record of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power this year, Trump urged his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased atmosphere of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, giving rise to 805 investigations. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is on track to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the national level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of intimidation, targeting, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a product of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from White House allies and supporters align with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have definitely driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The move echoed the Hungarian leader's remodeling of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the president to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

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

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

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their claim that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Individual threats 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 judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has documented 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 termed “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the presidential protection and the Marshals Service. And these are specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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