Trump Figures Back Bukele's Plea for US President to Crack Down on US Judges

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

However, the Central American nation's strongman president Bukele has adopted a different approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received support from Maga figures, including an X post by former supporter Elon Musk, who has previously boosted the Salvadoran's calls to oust US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Experts note that Bukele's recent intervention come at a time of unprecedented dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is employing similar strong-arm methods used by leaders in countries such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native the Central American country to undermine democratic accountability.

The president's social media call last week was just the latest in a long series of provocations and allegations he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a court's ruling to stop removal operations transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Federal Judge

Bukele's impeachment call was also made during online criticism on the state's federal judge Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Miller, former AG Pam Bondi, Elon Musk, and the president himself in a latest press gaggle.

The judge had issued restraining orders preventing Trump from deploying the military reserves, first in the state then in the West Coast state. Trump has been eager to dispatch troops into Portland, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on small, non-violent protests outside the city's federal building.

Record of Attacking Judges

Miller, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked Trump's executive orders or in other ways hindered the government's policy goals. Before resuming office recently, the president urged his followers against judges presiding over his legal cases, who were then deluged with intimidation and harassment.

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

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on information gathered by the US Marshals Service, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were 562 threats to 395 US justices, giving rise to more than eight hundred inquiries. 2025 has already surpassed the first recorded year, and 2024, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of 630 threats.

The threats are not only happening at the national level. Data from Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least 59 instances of threats, targeting, surveillance, or violence committed against judges on the local level in the current year.

Expert 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 comprehensive report alleging that “harmful and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It noted “a 54% rise in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of the president's term.”

Beirich, the co-founder of the organization, said: “The president's threats against judges have definitely fueled digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is another move in Trump’s march towards authoritarianism.”

Global Strongman Tactics

That march towards autocracy has been well-trodden in the past decade in several countries, including by Bukele.

In several years ago, right after commencing a new term despite legal bans, the president's parliamentary loyalists voted to remove the country’s top prosecutor and several justices on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against coronavirus measures, were replaced by replacements hand picked by the leader.

The action mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul of Hungary’s court system 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.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the intimidation and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine judicial independence in a structure that provides no simple method for the president to dismiss judges the administration opposes.

Leonard, an academic at the university who has researched authoritarian backsliding in free nations, 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 legislation that would weaken the judiciary,” she said.

Citing instances such as the advisor's persistent claims of nearly limitless executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the courts by repeating repeatedly that it is not a equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They continue to redefine the debate by emphasizing their claim that the executive has more power than this other co-equal branch, which is not how checks and balances work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the authority of their capacity to make those decisions. Personal intimidation on top of weakening institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, academic of social science and global studies at Princeton University, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and the Russian, and has warned about escalating threats to judges in the US.

She highlighted a wave of termed “pizza doxxings” this year, in which judges have received unwanted pizza deliveries with the recipient listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Justice Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a gunman targeting the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated police units that sit structurally inside the Department of Justice. And Pam Bondi has been leading the criticism on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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