Trump Figures Back Bukele's Call for Trump to Crack Down on American Judges

The US President is not typically known for guidance, especially from foreign leaders who frequently seek to praise and compliment the US president.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in removing so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also received backing from Maga figures, including an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified Bukele's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts say that the leader's recent intervention occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, the European state, India, and Bukele's own El Salvador to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online statement recently was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to halt removal operations transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also issued during online criticism on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking the administration from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. The president has been eager to send troops into the city, which the leader has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the city's federal building.

Record of Targeting Justices

The advisor, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against presidential directives or in other ways impeded the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with intimidation and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and judges themselves have pointed to a increased climate of risks and coercion in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in the current year through the third quarter, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, leading to more than eight hundred investigations. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Information by the university's research project shows that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks committed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Experts say that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from top government officials.

In spring, the watchdog group published a comprehensive report claiming that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies align with rising violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% increase in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Attacking the courts is one more step in Trump’s advance towards strongman rule.”

Global Strongman Playbook

This progression towards autocracy has been well-trodden in recent years in multiple countries, including by Bukele.

In 2021, right after starting a second term in the face of constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's attorney general and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for new appointees hand picked by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of Hungary’s court system several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Analysts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a system that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges Trump disapproves of.

Leonard, an associate professor at the university who has researched democratic decline in free nations, said the White House had taken cues from the models set by strongmen 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 relentless claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They openly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their argument that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

Leonard said: “Judges' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor 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 warned about escalating dangers to judges in the US.

She highlighted a series of so-called “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in 2020 by a gunman aiming at the judge.

“All knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. You are a target,’” the professor said.

“US justices are protected by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

On the government's aims, the expert said that “removing a US justice is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently