Donald Trump Could Pardon Himself and His Staff But Says He Isn't 'Thinking About' Doing So 'Because I Did Nothing Wrong'

No president has ever pardoned himself before, but Donald Trump has been breaking presidential norms for a decade now — and he seems poised to break another guardrail with a pardon for himself as well as preemptive pardons for his staff.

When asked in a recent interview if he would consider pardoning himself before he leaves office, he at first proclaimed his innocence.

“I don't think about it because I did nothing wrong,” he said. “I could have given myself a pardon the last time I left office. I never thought that they'd bring me through the mud. Yeah, I'm allowed to do a pardon, a self-pardon.”

Trump pivoted the matter to his predecessor, Joe Biden.

“I'm allowed to pardon one thing,” he stated. “The only thing Biden did is he proved that.”

Trump continued to muse on the possibilities of one of the president’s stronger enumerated powers. “You know, the pardon is very powerful,” the POTUS continued. “I know that they say it's the most powerful thing.”

He also suggested he might pardon his staffers and family members.

This would not be unprecedented, as Biden issued preemptive pardons to his son Hunter Biden and prominent staffers such as Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“These people are lunatics on the left,” he declared. “I don't want to see people that work for me go through years of nonsense, hire lawyers and everything else, all for nothing. So I'm probably glad I didn't do it the first time, but I had to go through a lot, but I won. Two and a half years, we will have done things that nobody's ever done. This has been a great presidency.”

No president has ever issued a self-pardon. Article II of the United States Constitution defines it broadly: “He shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”

Trump has previously offered a blanket pardon to 1,600 people for charges related to the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress. The Supreme Court, which has generally supported Trump's expansive view of the presidency, has consistently ruled on a very broad interpretation of the power.

It remains unknown as to what would happen if a president attempted to pardon himself; however, it is limited to federal offenses, as no president has the power to influence prosecution by an individual state.