Trump Supporters Endorse Bukele's Plea for US President to Crack Down on US Judiciary

The US President rarely accepts guidance, particularly from international figures who frequently attempt to flatter and compliment the US president.

But, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a different approach by calling on the White House to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Trump allies, such as an X post by former close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has previously amplified the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts note that the leader's recent intervention occur of unmatched threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

Bukele's online statement last week was one more in a string of provocations and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a judicial coup,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights transporting accused undocumented individuals to his country's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's demand for removal was also issued amid social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Karin Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into Portland, which the leader has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on small, peaceful protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have ruled against Trump's executive orders or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have pointed to a heightened atmosphere of threats and coercion in the period since he returned to the White House.

Increasing Threat Statistics

According to data gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the end of September, there were over five hundred incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. 2025 has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Information by the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, harassment, stalking, or violence committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the threats are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating violent posts on online platforms.” It noted “a fifty-four percent increase in calls for removal and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from January to February 2025, the initial period of the president's term.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly driven online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Attacking the judiciary is another move in the administration's march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

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

In 2021, immediately after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by Bukele.

The action mirrored the Hungarian leader's overhaul of Hungary’s court system in 2018; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and Poland.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be viewed as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a system that offers no easy way for the executive to remove judges Trump opposes.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied democratic decline in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

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

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless assertions of nearly limitless presidential authority, she noted: “They openly criticize the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the government structure.

“They persist in redefine the debate by emphasizing their argument that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

Leonard said: “Justices' sole safeguard is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ability to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of weakening trust in courts 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, professor of social science and global studies at the Ivy League school, has documented the use of “authoritarian law” by the such as Orbán and the Russian, and has spoken out about rising threats to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the judge’s home in several years ago by a assailant aiming at Salas.

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

“Federal judges are protected by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated law enforcement that sit structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the criticism on justices.”

Government Goals

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