Trump plans 'tremendous numbers' of pardons in second half of term
President Donald Trump has said he expects to issue 'tremendous numbers' of pardons before he leaves office, adding that while he has the power to pardon himself, he does not expect to do so.
Trump made the remarks in a '60 Minutes' interview that aired on Sunday, in response to questions from CBS News' Ross Douthat. In the interview, he also described pardoning himself as 'not unreasonable'.
Trump said: 'But more importantly, 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 added that he intends 'to issue tremendous numbers of pardons', possibly including pardons for those who 'got within a thousand miles of the Oval Office' during his term.
In the interview, the president also defended his pardons of the January 6 rioters.
Trump's predecessor, President Joe Biden, issued several pardons in the final days of 2025. Those preemptive pardons included close family members, although they did not include the president himself.
Biden wrote in a statement at the time: 'My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.'
Biden also preemptively pardoned several senior members of his administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and lawmakers who served on the House January 6 Committee.
Trump suggested early during his second term that Biden should have also pardoned himself. He said at the time: '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.'
In 2024, the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. US granted Trump sweeping immunity from prosecution. The decision applies to the President of the United States.
