Trump Figures Back El Salvador Leader's Plea for Trump to Target American Judiciary

Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, particularly from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and admire the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by urging the White House to follow his example in removing what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past boosted the Salvadoran's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts note that the leader's recent intervention occur of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable authoritarian tactics employed by rulers in countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken democratic accountability.

Bukele's online statement recently was one more in a string of taunts and claims he has made against the US's legal system, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to stop deportation flights transporting suspected undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh prison system.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and Trump himself in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the national guard, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to dispatch soldiers into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, non-violent demonstrations outside the city's homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Justices

Miller, Bondi, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise impeded the administration's political agenda. Before resuming office recently, the president directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of threats and intimidation in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative shows 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 the current year.

Analyst Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In May, the watchdog group published a detailed report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is another move in the administration's advance towards authoritarianism.”

International Authoritarian Tactics

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in recent years in several nations, such as by the Salvadoran.

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by Bukele.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary in 2018; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at comparable actions in Israel and Poland.

Weakening Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as attempts to weaken judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the White House had learned from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They openly attack the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' sole safeguard is public trust in the legitimacy of their ability to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for the political system.”

Coercion Methods

Scheppele, professor of social science and international affairs at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as the Hungarian and Putin, and has spoken out about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a wave of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited pizza deliveries with the customer listed as a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

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

Administration Aims

Regarding the government's objectives, Scheppele said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s very difficult to do. {Right now|Currently