In an Oval Office interview with TIME on September 28, 2026, published October 1, Trump was asked whether he was considering pardoning members of his administration before his term ends. “Yeah, sure I'd do that,” he said, according to TIME's transcript. Asked to confirm, he turned to his predecessor: “Well, Sleepy Joe Biden, he gave pardons to everyone,” and later, “But you mean I'm not allowed to give them, but Sleepy Joe's allowed to give them?” ABC News reported it is the first time he has publicly said he would consider it. Earlier in the interview, asked about the possibility of losing the House, he said: “They'll probably go after me and I'll go after them.”
Right after the pardon exchange he turned on the interviewers: “You haven't asked me one fucking positive question. All of this. What about this? What about that? What about that? What about this? All negative.” Near the end: “Every question's a hit. I don't know what the hell's wrong.”
Biden issued preemptive pardons to family members and officials in his final days, which Trump cites. A promise of clemency to his own officials before any charge would extend that practice to the people carrying out his own administration's policies (see Trump Pardoned Binance's Founder After Binance Did Business With His Family's Crypto Firm, Then Said 'I Don't Know Who He Is').
Update (October 17, 2026): asked in an October 15 Newsmax interview whether he was considering a self-pardon, Trump said he had done “nothing wrong,” then added, “I'm allowed to do a self-pardon. I'm allowed to pardon,” and said of his staff, “I don't want to see people that work for me go through years of nonsense, hire lawyers and everything else, all for nothing.”
Update (November 2, 2026): In a “Pod Force One” interview with the New York Post's Miranda Devine, published early on November 2, Trump said he was willing to issue preemptive pardons to everyone who worked in his administration if Democrats follow through on threats to prosecute them, the Post reported. “I would if I needed to. Sure,” he said. Asked whether that applied to everyone who had worked for him, he said, “I'd do it,” and then, “I did it for J6.” He again pointed to his predecessor: “That's what Biden did. He gave everybody a pardon.” Axios described the remarks as saying he would “consider” pardons for his staff and other allies. The Post noted that pardons cover only federal crimes, not state prosecutions, civil suits or impeachment.
The prompt was Democratic talk of accountability: the Post cited Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who said a Democratic majority should prosecute “the people who enable” Trump. Devine also raised the idea of arresting Elon Musk; Axios described the question as about rumors of Musk being investigated or having assets seized. “It won't happen. It's talk,” Trump said, adding, “But if it is talk, we'll have to protect them.” Neither account quotes him saying he would pardon Musk. Asked whether he himself was a target, he said, “Well, I don't know about me.” The Post did not give the date of the interview.