Would Donald Trump pardon himself? What he said in new interview – USA TODAY
WASHINGTON − Donald Trump said Thursday it is “very unlikely” he would pardon himself if he is reelected president, though he doesn’t expect to be convicted in any of the four trials facing him.
“What did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “You mean because I challenge an election, they want to put me in jail?”
Trump is trying to delay all four of the criminal trials facing him until after Election Day of Nov. 5, 2024.
It is possible one or more juries will render verdicts before then, but the federal pardon probably does not apply in two of the cases. They both involve state charges, including election fraud conspiracy allegations in Georgia and hush-money claims in New York.
If he is elected, Trump could well have an impact on the two federal cases facing him, including election fraud charges in Washington, D.C., and improper handling of classified documents charges filed in Florida.
In the NBC interview, Trump said he and his attorneys discussed the self-pardon question before he left office in early 2021.
“People said, ‘would you like to pardon yourself?’ I had a couple of attorneys that said, ‘you can do it if you want,'” Trump said. “I had some people that said, ‘It would look bad if you do it because I think it would look terrible.'”
He added: “Let me just tell you. I said, ‘The last thing I’d ever do is give myself a pardon.'”
NBC released excerpts from a Trump interview that was taped Thursday. It will air in full on Sunday morning, when Kristen Welker makes her debut as host of “Meet The Press.”