Trump Supporters Endorse El Salvador Leader's Call for Trump to Crack Down on American Judiciary

The US President does not usually take guidance, especially from foreign leaders who often seek to flatter and compliment the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to move against the American court system also received backing from Trump allies, including an social media message by one-time close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented dangers to court autonomy and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken democratic accountability.

The president's social media call last week was just the latest in a string of provocations and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a spring claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to stop removal operations sending accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also made during online criticism on Oregon justice Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the national guard, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the president has described as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the urban federal building.

History of Attacking Justices

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a long record of criticizing judges who have ruled against presidential directives or otherwise hindered the administration's policy goals. Prior to resuming office this year, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

Monitoring groups, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the presidency.

Increasing Risk Data

According to data collected by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is on track to top the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

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

In May, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with rising violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and violent threats against judges across social media platforms from January to February 2025, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “Trump’s warnings against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for impeachment. Attacking the courts is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

International Strongman Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term despite legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by Bukele.

The action mirrored 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 the European country.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

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

Leonard said: “Judges' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. 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 judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “harassment deliveries” recently, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the child of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant targeting the judge.

“Everyone knows what it means. ‘We know where you live. We’re coming for you,’” Scheppele said.

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the federal police. And these are dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been spearheading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

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