Donald Trump Shares His Thinking on Pardoning Himself

Former President Donald Trump says that he avoided "even thinking about" preemptively pardoning himself before leaving office in 2021.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 91 felony charges this year while campaigning as the leading Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race. The ex-president claims to be the victim of a political "witch hunt," insisting that the charges amount to "election interference."

In preview clip released on Thursday and taken from Trump's coming interview on NBC's flagship Sunday morning show Meet the Press, the former president told host Kristen Welker that he declined to pardon himself following his 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden, despite receiving some advice to do so.

Trump said that all four of his current criminal indictments, which he claimed without evidence were issued at the behest of Biden, would not exist if he had decided to pardon himself before leaving the White House. Speculation over a potential self-pardon was rampant in the months following Trump's 2020 loss.

"I was given an option to pardon myself before I left," Trump said during the interview, which was recorded at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. "People said would you like to pardon yourself? I had a couple of attorneys who said you can do it if you want ... I think it would look terrible."

"You know what I said? I have no interest in even thinking about it," he continued. "I was told by some people that these are sick lunatics you are dealing with, give yourself a pardon, your life will be a lot easier. I said I would never give myself a pardon."

Welker then pressed the former president on whether he would pardon himself if he gets convicted on any of the charges that he is currently facing and goes on to regain the presidency in 2024.

"Well, I think it's very unlikely," said Trump. "What did I do wrong? I didn't do anything wrong. You mean because I challenged an election, they want to put me in jail?"

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for additional comment via email on Thursday night.

The former president has not been charged with merely having "challenged an election," which is not a crime, in any of his indictments.

Trump's charges instead include accusations of mishandling classified documents and related obstruction, attempting to illegally overturn an election, conspiracy to defraud the United States and of falsifying business records.

While Trump could in theory pardon himself if he wins back the White House, experts are divided over whether such a move would be legally valid. Any attempt to issue a self-pardon would almost certainly be challenged in court.

Regardless of who wins the 2024 election, Trump cannot be pardoned for any convictions related to his state felony charges in New York and Georgia, as presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes.