Trump predicts large wave of presidential pardons

President Donald Trump said he plans to issue "tremendous numbers" of pardons before the end of his second term. He made the prediction during an interview on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, which aired on Sunday.

When asked about the possibility of pardoning himself, the president stated that such an action is "not unreasonable." He explained that he wants to protect individuals who serve the country and perform well from years of legal defense. "I don’t want to have good people that are serving this country and doing a great job spending the rest of their life like I had to do for four years defending myself by radical left lunatics, by people that were very nasty and mean," he told interviewer Ross Douthat.

Trump indicated that the upcoming clemencies might extend to individuals who were physically close to the White House during his presidency. He described this group as those who "got within a thousand miles of the Oval Office."

The discussion follows a series of preemptive pardons granted by President Joe Biden in 2025. Biden issued clemencies to close family members and senior administration officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and retired Gen. Mark Milley. He excluded himself from that list. In a statement, Biden wrote that his family faced "unrelenting attacks and threats" driven by partisan politics. He added that he had "no reason to believe these attacks will end."

Trump previously suggested that Biden should have pardoned himself as well. "This guy went around giving everybody pardons. And you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn’t give himself a pardon," Trump said earlier in the term. This debate occurs against the backdrop of a 2024 Supreme Court decision in Trump vs. US, which granted the president sweeping immunity from prosecution. The ruling applies to all U.S. presidents.

Upon entering his second term, Trump issued a broad set of pardons for defendants involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He commuted the sentences of 14 individuals and granted full pardons to all others convicted of offenses related to the event. He stated at the time that approximately 1,500 people were to be covered.

In the recent interview, the president defended those Jan. 6 pardons, noting that some rioters had attacked law enforcement. "I think it's very unfair. I pardoned the J-6s. I don't think any group’s been treated more unfairly than them, and and to this day when they see me, they cry," he said. When asked if this applied to those who were rough with police, he replied, "There was some that got rough, but you know, they were rough to them, too."