Maga Supporters Back Bukele's Call for US President 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.

However, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele has followed a different approach by urging the Trump administration to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “corrupt judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also received backing from Trump allies, such as an social media message by one-time close Trump ally Elon Musk, who has in the past amplified the Salvadoran's calls to impeach US judges.

Growing Threats to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that Bukele's latest remarks come at a time of unmatched dangers to judicial independence and individual judges in the US, and during a phase where the Trump administration is employing comparable strong-arm tactics used by leaders in nations such as Türkiye, Hungary, the Asian nation, and Bukele's own the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's online call last week was one more in a long series of taunts and allegations he has made against the American judiciary, including a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and ridicule of a federal judge's ruling to halt deportation flights transporting accused undocumented individuals to his nation's harsh correctional facilities.

Criticism on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also made during social media attacks on Oregon federal judge Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Pam Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a recent press gaggle.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking Trump from mobilizing the military reserves, first in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to dispatch soldiers into Portland, which the president has characterized as “battle-scarred” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

Record of Targeting Justices

The advisor, the former AG, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the administration's political agenda. Prior to resuming office recently, the president directed his supporters against judges overseeing his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and abuse.

Monitoring groups, law enforcement agencies, and judges themselves have pointed to a heightened climate of threats and coercion in the period since he re-entered the presidency.

Increasing Threat Statistics

Based on data gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred incidents to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to 805 inquiries. This year has already surpassed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to top 2023's record of 630 threats.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's research project indicates that there have been at least 59 cases of threats, harassment, surveillance, or physical attacks committed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Analysis on Root Causes

Experts state that the threats are a result of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report claiming that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from Trump administration members and allies coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% increase in demands for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months of this year, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “Trump’s threats against judges have certainly driven digital abuse at judges and calls for impeachment. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's march towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

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

In 2021, right after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s allies in congress voted to remove the nation's attorney general and five judges on the supreme court. The judges, who had angered him by rejecting pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by Bukele.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; the Turkish president's court cleanups recently; and attempts at similar moves in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Court Autonomy

Experts explain that the threats and verbal assaults in the US can be seen as efforts to undermine court autonomy in a system that provides no simple method for the executive to remove judges Trump disapproves of.

Meghan Leonard, an associate professor at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had taken cues from the examples set by strongmen abroad.

“The administration is observing at these successes and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would weaken the courts,” she said.

Citing examples such as Miller’s persistent claims of broad executive power, she noted: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to redefine the discussion by repeating their claim that the executive has greater authority than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is people’s belief in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Personal intimidation on top of eroding trust in courts may make judges hesitate about decisions that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, highly concerning for judicial review and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of the Hungarian and Putin, and has warned 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 a name, the son of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in 2020 by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both dedicated law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

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