Trump Vows Blanket Pardons for Anyone Near the Oval Office, Doubling Down on Abuse of Pardon Power

President Trump is doubling down on his notorious abuse of the presidential pardon power by openly promising to pardon virtually everyone who has come anywhere near the Oval Office during his tenure. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump told his staff in a private meeting that he would “pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval.” Another source claimed the president said he’d pardon anyone within 10 feet. White House aides confirm Trump frequently makes this claim in meetings, signaling this is no idle joke.

The White House insists Trump is “obviously joking,” with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters, “The Wall Street Journal should learn to take a joke, however, the President’s pardon power is absolute.” But this so-called joke is part of a clear pattern of weaponizing pardons to shield allies, cronies, and loyalists from accountability.

Trump’s threat to blanket-pardon anyone near the Oval Office follows his history of granting pardons to a slew of questionable figures. This includes convicted January 6 insurrectionists, corrupt officials like Texas Representative Henry Cuellar, dark web drug dealer Ross Ulbricht, and even former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of drug trafficking. These pardons are not acts of justice but rewards for loyalty and complicity in wrongdoing.

This reckless approach starkly contrasts with Trump’s prior public outrage over President Biden’s pardons. Biden pardoned some family members and top officials targeted by Republicans, including his son Hunter Biden and former NIH director Anthony Fauci. Trump responded by declaring all Biden’s pardons “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT,” baselessly attacking the legitimacy of the pardons because they were signed via autopen. Yet now Trump openly promises to pardon anyone near him, revealing a glaring double standard and a blatant disregard for the rule of law.

The pardon power is meant to be a tool of mercy and justice, not a shield for corruption and lawlessness. Trump’s vow to pardon everyone near the Oval Office before he leaves power is a chilling sign of how far he is willing to go to protect himself and his inner circle from consequences. This is yet another alarming chapter in the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on democratic norms and accountability.

We will continue to track and expose every instance where Trump uses his pardon power to undermine justice and shield wrongdoing. The stakes could not be higher for the integrity of our democracy.