Trump Promises Mass Pardons to Administration Staff Before Leaving Office

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President Trump has repeatedly promised his top administration officials pardons before he leaves office, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited multiple people who heard his comments. In a recent meeting, Trump told aides he would pardon everyone who had been near the Oval Office, a remark that drew laughter. The president has made similar comments on multiple occasions, with the scope of the pledge growing over time. Earlier this year, he referenced a 10-foot radius; more recently, he expanded it to 200 feet.

In a separate conversation with advisers in the dining room next to the Oval Office in 2025, Trump said he planned to hold a formal press conference to announce mass pardons before leaving office, according to the Journal. Sources told the newspaper they were not aware of specific pardons being offered to specific people for specific acts.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the remarks as humor, telling the Journal: "The Wall Street Journal should learn to take a joke, however, the President's pardon power is absolute."

Context: Pardons as Encouragement

Trump has a documented pattern of raising pardons with officials when they express concern about legal exposure. According to the Journal, the president has repeatedly brought up pardons with White House aides and other administration officials, particularly when staff suggest they could face prosecution or congressional investigations over their decisions. Trump is known to joke about matters he later seriously pursues, and the frequent references have led some aides to believe he is serious.

This is not new behavior. During Trump's first term, former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham recalled telling Trump she was in trouble for violating the Hatch Act, which limits political activities by government officials. She said Trump responded by dismissing the concern and telling her he controlled the Hatch Act and would pardon her. Grisham told CNN in 2021 that Hatch Act violations were treated as a "badge of honor" in the Trump White House. In a separate instance during his first term, Trump suggested to immigration officials that he would pardon them if they directed border agents to physically block migrants from entering the country, though former officials said they did not believe it was a serious offer at the time.

Liz Oyer, who served as the Department of Justice's Pardon Attorney before being fired in March 2025, told the Journal that Trump's pattern of pardon promises could embolden officials to act more aggressively. She said it appeared the president had signaled many times his intention to use the pardon power to protect those who carried out his agenda.

Political Context: The 2026 Midterms

According to the Journal, Trump aides have expressed concern about Democrats potentially regaining the House of Representatives in the November 2026 elections. Democrats have signaled they would investigate the president on a range of issues, including his control over the Justice Department, alleged misconduct at the Department of Homeland Security, and the pardons themselves. Trump has discussed how to head off those potential inquiries, advisers told the Journal.

Preemptive pardons would shield officials from federal prosecution but would not protect them from state charges or civil lawsuits. They also would not prevent Congress from conducting investigations, though the Justice Department—which would decide whether to charge someone for defying a congressional subpoena—would remain under the president's control.

Trump's Second-Term Clemency Record

Trump has already wielded clemency power far more aggressively in his second term than any modern president. As of April 2026, he has issued approximately 1,600 grants of clemency, compared to fewer than 250 pardons and commutations in his entire first term. The second-term total is dominated by the blanket pardon of approximately 1,500 January 6 defendants issued on Inauguration Day 2025. Additional pardons have gone to political allies, campaign donors, and individuals connected to allies or donors.

Notable second-term pardons have included:

• January 6 defendants: Approximately 1,500 individuals charged or convicted in connection with the Capitol attack, including those convicted of assaulting police officers
• 2020 alternate electors: 77 individuals associated with the plot to overturn the 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and Sidney Powell, pardoned on November 9, 2025
• Corrupt politicians: At least 20 federal, state, and local politicians convicted of corruption-related crimes
• Crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao: The Binance founder, whose company has done business with World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency company owned by Trump's family

A House Judiciary Committee analysis found that Trump's pardons erased approximately $1.3 billion in court-ordered restitution and fines owed to victims and taxpayers. A subsequent California Governor's Office analysis put the total closer to $1.9 billion when forfeitures are included.

Trump also fired Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer in March 2025 and replaced her with political loyalist Ed Martin, who described the administration's clemency rationale as "No MAGA left behind." In April 2025, Oyer testified before the Senate and accused the Justice Department's leadership of valuing political loyalty above the fair administration of justice.

Legal Precedent for Preemptive Pardons

The constitutional basis for preemptive pardons is well-established. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the president the power to "grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States," and the Supreme Court has recognized this power as broad and virtually unlimited. Gerald Ford's 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon—issued before any charges were filed—established the precedent that a president may pardon preemptively. George H.W. Bush's 1992 pardon of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger before trial provides another example.

President Biden issued preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, members of the House January 6 Committee, and several family members in his final hours in office, citing fear of political retribution from the incoming Trump administration. Former Biden communications aide Michael LaRosa told the Journal that while he understood Biden's reasoning, the move served as a norm-breaking precedent for Trump to exploit. He said Biden had cracked the door open and that they could not now complain about Trump walking through it.

However, legal experts have raised concerns about a president promising pardons to his own subordinates in advance. Matt Kaiser, Co-Chair of the International Bar Association's Criminal Law Committee, warned that self-interested pardons raise rule-of-law concerns by potentially licensing illegal conduct. He noted that a president could direct someone to commit an illegal act and then guarantee them a pardon afterward, and that the 2024 Supreme Court immunity ruling makes it more difficult to hold a president accountable for such arrangements. Harold Krent, a professor at Illinois Tech's Chicago-Kent College of Law, described preemptive pardons as especially concerning because they remove the possibility of any judicial process whatsoever.

First-Term Precedent

At the end of his first term, following the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, Trump considered but ultimately rejected issuing mass pardons to White House staff and campaign aides. He later told advisers he regretted not doing so. After leaving office, Trump was charged in four separate criminal cases—he was convicted on 34 felony counts in the New York state case (which a presidential pardon cannot affect) and the other three cases were ultimately dismissed. The Journal reported that advisers described a president who believes he was unfairly targeted by the Justice Department and wants to do whatever is possible to protect himself and his inner circle from future scrutiny.