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

The US President is not typically known for guidance, particularly from foreign leaders who often seek to flatter and admire the American leader.

But, the Central American nation's authoritarian leader Bukele has adopted a distinct approach by urging the Trump administration to follow his example in impeaching what he terms “corrupt judges.”

The call for the president to move against the US judiciary also garnered support from Maga figures, including an social media message by former close Trump ally the billionaire, who has previously amplified Bukele's calls to impeach US judges.

Unprecedented Risks to Court Autonomy

Analysts note that the leader's recent intervention come at a time of unmatched threats to court autonomy and specific justices in the US, and during a period where the president's team is using comparable authoritarian methods used by leaders in nations such as Turkey, the European state, the Asian nation, and his native El Salvador to undermine government oversight.

Bukele's online call recently was just the latest in a string of provocations and claims he has leveled against the American judiciary, such as a March claim that the US was “facing a court takeover,” and his mockery of a court's order to halt deportation flights transporting accused illegal immigrants to his nation's brutal prison system.

Attacks on Federal Judge

The Salvadoran's impeachment call was also issued during online criticism on the state's justice Judge Immergut by presidential advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Bondi, Musk, and the president personally in a latest media briefing.

The judge had ordered restraining orders blocking Trump from deploying the military reserves, initially in Oregon then in California. Trump has been eager to send soldiers into the city, which the leader has described as “battle-scarred” based on limited, non-violent protests outside the city's homeland security facility.

History of Attacking Judges

The advisor, the former AG, and Musk have a history of criticizing judges who have blocked presidential directives or in other ways hindered the government's political agenda. Prior to resuming office this year, Trump urged his followers against judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials, who were then inundated with threats and harassment.

Watchdog organizations, law enforcement agencies, and the justices have highlighted a increased climate of risks and intimidation in the months since he re-entered the White House.

Rising Risk Data

Based on information gathered by the federal agency, in 2025 through the end of September, there were 562 incidents to 395 US justices, leading to more than eight hundred inquiries. This year has already eclipsed 2022, and 2024, and is on track to top the previous year'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 instances of intimidation, harassment, stalking, or physical attacks directed against judges on the state and municipal levels in the current year.

Expert Insights on Root Causes

Experts state that the intimidation are a result of the rhetoric coming from senior administration figures.

In spring, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) published a comprehensive report alleging that “malicious and reckless statements from White House allies and allies coincide with escalating aggressive posts on online platforms.” It recorded “a 54% rise in demands for impeachment and physical intimidation against judges across social media platforms from the first two months of this year, the initial period of Trump’s administration.”

Beirich, the founder of GPAHE, said: “The president's warnings against judges have definitely fueled online vitriol at judges and calls for ouster. Targeting the judiciary is one more step in the administration's advance towards strongman rule.”

International Strongman Playbook

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

In several years ago, right after commencing a second term in the face of legal bans, Bukele’s parliamentary loyalists voted to dismiss the country’s attorney general and several judges on the supreme court. The justices, who had angered him by ruling against pandemic policies, were replaced by replacements selected by the leader.

The move echoed Viktor Orbán’s remodeling of the nation's judiciary several years back; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s court cleanups recently; and efforts at comparable actions in Israel and the European country.

Undermining Judicial Independence

Analysts say that the threats and rhetorical attacks in the US can be seen as efforts to weaken court autonomy in a structure that offers no easy way for the executive to dismiss judges the administration disapproves of.

Leonard, an academic at Illinois State University who has studied authoritarian backsliding in free nations, said the Trump administration had learned from the examples set by authoritarians overseas.

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

Pointing to examples such as the advisor's persistent claims of broad presidential authority, she added: “They directly criticize the judiciary by stating over and over that it is not a co-equal branch in the separation of powers.

“They persist in reframe the discussion by emphasizing their claim that the president has more power than this judicial branch, which is not how separation powers work.”

The professor said: “Justices' only protection is public trust in the authority of their ability to make those rulings. Individual threats on top of weakening trust in courts may make judges hesitate about judgments that go against the sitting government, which is, of course, massively problematic for court oversight and for the political system.”

Intimidation Tactics

Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University, has documented the use of “autocratic legalism” by the likes of Orbán 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 pizza deliveries with the customer listed as Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was killed at the residence in several years ago by a assailant aiming at the judge.

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

“Federal judges are guarded by the Secret Service and the Marshals Service. And those are both specialized law enforcement that are placed institutionally inside the Department of Justice. And the former AG has been leading the attacks on justices.”

Administration Aims

On the government's aims, Scheppele said that “removing a federal judge is almost certainly not going to happen because it’s so hard to do. {Right now|Currently