Maga Supporters Back El Salvador Leader's Call for US President to Target US Judiciary

Donald Trump does not usually take advice, particularly from foreign leaders who often attempt to praise and compliment the American leader.

But, El Salvador's strongman president Nayib Bukele has followed a distinct strategy by urging the White House to emulate his actions in impeaching so-called “dishonest judges.”

His appeal for the president to take action against the American court system also garnered backing from Maga figures, such as an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously boosted Bukele's demands to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Threats to Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the leader's recent remarks come at a time of unprecedented threats to judicial independence and specific justices in the United States, and during a period where the Trump administration is using similar strong-arm tactics employed by leaders in nations such as Turkey, Hungary, India, and his native the Central American country to weaken government oversight.

The president's online call recently was just the latest in a long series of taunts and claims he has made against the American judiciary, such as a March assertion that the US was “experiencing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a federal judge's order to halt removal operations sending accused illegal immigrants to his country's harsh correctional facilities.

Attacks on Oregon Justice

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during social media attacks on Oregon justice Judge Immergut by White House aide Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and Trump personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered injunctions blocking the administration from deploying the national guard, initially in the state then in California. Trump has been eager to send troops into the city, which the president has characterized as “war-ravaged” based on limited, peaceful demonstrations outside the urban homeland security facility.

History of Targeting Justices

Miller, Bondi, and the entrepreneur have a history of attacking judges who have blocked presidential directives or otherwise hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to returning to power recently, the president directed his followers against judges overseeing his legal cases, who were then deluged with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, police departments, and the justices have pointed to a increased atmosphere of threats and intimidation in the months since he returned to the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on data collected by the federal agency, in 2025 through the third quarter, there were over five hundred threats to nearly four hundred federal judges, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed the first recorded year, and last year, and is likely to exceed 2023's high of over six hundred reported incidents.

The dangers are not just happening at the national level. Information by Princeton's Bridging Divides Initiative indicates that there have been at least fifty-nine cases of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the local level in 2025.

Expert Insights on Threat Sources

Specialists say that the threats are a product of the language coming from top government officials.

In May, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a detailed report alleging that “malicious and highly irresponsible statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating violent posts on social media.” It recorded “a fifty-four percent rise in calls for impeachment and violent threats against judges across digital networks from the first two months 2025, the first full month of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the co-founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have certainly fueled online vitriol at judges and demands for impeachment. Targeting the courts is another move in Trump’s march towards strongman rule.”

Global Authoritarian Playbook

That march towards authoritarianism has been well-trodden in the past decade in multiple nations, such as by Bukele.

In several years ago, immediately after starting a second term despite constitutional prohibitions, the president's allies in congress voted to dismiss the nation's top prosecutor and five judges on the constitutional court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, made way for replacements selected by the leader.

The move mirrored Viktor Orbán’s overhaul 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 Judicial Independence

Experts explain that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as attempts to undermine judicial independence in a system that offers no easy way for the president to dismiss judges Trump opposes.

Meghan Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has researched authoritarian backsliding in democracies, said the White House had learned from the models set by authoritarians abroad.

“The administration is looking around at these achievements and failures. They know they’re not going to be able to pass any legislation that would undermine the judiciary,” she said.

Pointing to instances such as Miller’s relentless claims of broad presidential authority, she noted: “They directly attack the courts by stating repeatedly that it is not a co-equal branch in the government structure.

“They continue to reframe the discussion by repeating their argument that the president has greater authority than this other co-equal branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the legitimacy of their capacity to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of eroding institutional legitimacy may make judges think twice about decisions that go against the current administration, which is, of course, highly concerning for court oversight and for democracy.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at the Ivy League school, has written about the use of “authoritarian law” by the likes of Orbán and the Russian, and has warned about rising dangers to judges in the US.

She pointed to a series of termed “harassment deliveries” this year, in which judges have received unsolicited food orders with the recipient listed as a name, the child of Justice Salas, who was murdered at the residence in several years ago by a gunman aiming at the judge.

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

“US justices are guarded by the presidential protection and the federal police. And these are specialized police units that are placed structurally inside the federal agency. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on federal judges.”

Administration Aims

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