Maga Supporters Endorse Bukele's Plea for Trump to Target US Judges

Donald Trump does not usually take counsel, especially from international figures who often seek to praise and compliment the US president.

However, El Salvador's authoritarian leader Bukele has followed a different strategy by calling on the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an X post by one-time supporter Elon Musk, who has previously amplified Bukele's demands to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Judicial Independence

Experts say that the leader's latest remarks occur of unprecedented dangers to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a phase where the president's team is employing similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in countries such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native El Salvador to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's online call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the US's legal system, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights transporting suspected illegal immigrants to his country's brutal correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

Bukele's demand for removal was also issued amid online criticism on the state's justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump himself in a recent media briefing.

The judge had issued injunctions blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in the West Coast state. The president has been pushing to send troops into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban federal building.

Record of Targeting Judges

Miller, the former AG, and Musk have a long record of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's policy goals. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his supporters against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and abuse.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a heightened climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the presidency.

Rising Threat Statistics

Based on information collected by the federal agency, in the current year through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed 2022, and 2024, and is likely to top 2023's record of over six hundred threats.

The dangers are not only happening at the federal level. Data from the university's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of threats, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in 2025.

Analyst Insights on Root Causes

Experts say that the intimidation are a product of the language coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report claiming that “harmful and reckless statements from Trump administration members and supporters coincide with escalating aggressive posts on social media.” It noted “a fifty-four percent rise in demands for removal and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from January to February of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

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

International Authoritarian Playbook

This progression towards authoritarianism has been common in recent years in multiple countries, such as by the Salvadoran.

In 2021, right after commencing a new term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had provoked his ire by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for new appointees selected by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's judicial purges in 2019; and efforts at similar moves in the Middle Eastern state and the European country.

Weakening Judicial Independence

Experts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken judicial independence in a structure that offers no easy way for the president to remove judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has studied democratic decline in democracies, said the White House had learned from the examples set by strongmen overseas.

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

Citing examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by repeating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the debate by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances 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 eroding 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

Kim Lane Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has written about 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 highlighted a series of so-called “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the judge’s home in several years ago by a gunman aiming at Salas.

“All knows what it means. ‘Your address is known. We’re coming for you,’” the professor said.

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And these are dedicated police units that are placed structurally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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