Donald Trump has used the presidential pardon power more broadly than any modern president. This document covers both terms: 2017–2021 (first term) and 2025–present (second term).

Total clemency actions (approximate):

• First term (2017–2021): ~237 acts (143 pardons, 94 commutations)
• Second term (2025–present): 2,025+ acts, including the ~1,500-person January 6 blanket clemency and ~77 fake-elector pardons (November 2025)

Structural notes for the second term:

• Pardon “czar”: Alice Marie Johnson — herself a first-term Trump commutee (2018) and full pardonee (2020) — was named the president’s first-of-its-kind “pardon czar” at a February 2025 White House Black History Month event, tasked with surfacing clemency candidates directly to the president.
• Pardon Attorney: Ed Martin was appointed U.S. Pardon Attorney on May 14, 2025, replacing career prosecutor Elizabeth Oyer (whom the Trump administration fired in March 2025 after she refused to recommend restoring Mel Gibson’s gun rights). Martin, formerly the interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. and the Director of the DOJ Weaponization Working Group (until his removal in early February 2026), personally announced the November 2025 fake-elector pardons on social media. See Ed Martin — Phyllis Schlafly Eagles President / Stop the Steal Co-Founder / U.S. Pardon Attorney.
• White House–centered review: Reporting (NPR / NOTUS, July 2026) documents that pardon authority has shifted from the traditional DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney review to a White House aides circle (including the White House counsel) that curates applications for the president — bypassing the merit-based five-year-waiting-period screen the pardon office historically applied.

Jan. 6 Clemency — Post-Pardon Recidivism (Updated June 2026)

A comprehensive Lawfare study (Katherine Pompilio, June 4, 2026) found that at least 97 pardoned Jan. 6 defendants — nearly 1 in 16 of all clemency recipients — have been arrested, charged, or convicted of additional crimes since their participation in the riot. This more than doubles the December 2025 CREW count of 33. For detailed case documentation, see January 6th Pardons Tracker: Recidivism and Accountability.

Source: Katherine Pompilio, “The Jan. 6 Pardons: How Many Clemency Recipients Have Faced Other Charges?” Lawfare, June 4, 2026. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-jan-6-pardons–how-many-clemency-recipients-have-faced-other-charges

DOJ Moves to Vacate Seditious Conspiracy Convictions (April–June 2026)

In a legally distinct action beyond the January 2025 clemency, the Trump Justice Department sought to retroactively vacate — not merely pardon — the seditious conspiracy convictions of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders.

April 14, 2026: U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro filed motions in the DC Circuit to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions in United States of America v. Ethan Nordean et al. (Proud Boys) and United States v. Rhodes et al. (Oath Keepers).

May–June 2026: The Justice Department formally moved the DC Circuit to drop both cases entirely — described by Lawfare as “the final step in making the history of January 6th into a legal nullity.” Former prosecutors involved in the cases stated the convictions should stand as they were obtained through full jury trials and due process.

Accountability distinction from pardons:

• The January 2025 pardons released defendants from punishment while leaving convictions on the legal record
• The April–June 2026 vacatur motions seek to erase the jury verdicts themselves — retroactively delegitimizing the judicial findings

For detailed documentation see individual profiles: Enrique Tarrio — Political Accountability Profile, Elmer Stewart Rhodes — Oath Keepers Founder, Joseph “Joe” Biggs — Political Accountability Profile, Kelly Meggs — Political Accountability Profile

Source: Lawfare, “The Justice Department Throws Out the Proud Boys and Oath Keeper Cases,” June 2026. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawfare-daily–the-justice-department-throws-out-the-proud-boys-and-oath-keeper-cases

November 7, 2025 — Fake Elector / 2020 Election Pardons (~77 people)

On November 7, 2025 the White House issued “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to more than 70 people involved in the 2020 fake-elector scheme and other post-election efforts to overturn Biden’s win. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin posted the pardon document to social media before the White House confirmed it.

Named recipients include:

• Rudy Giuliani — Trump’s former personal attorney; led “elite strike force” post-election legal team
• Mark Meadows — Trump’s White House chief of staff; central to the fake-elector coordination
• John Eastman — Author of the Eastman memos on the Pence VP-count theory
• Sidney Powell — “Kraken” attorney; already-guilty in Georgia state case
• Jenna Ellis — Post-election legal spokesperson; already-guilty in Georgia state case
• Kenneth Chesebro — Original author of the alternate-elector plan
• Jeffrey Clark — Former acting head of DOJ Civil Division; Eastman-Clark plan
• Boris Epshteyn — Longtime Trump adviser; coordinated post-election legal work
• The alternate slates — fake electors from Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan

Practical effect: Critics noted the pardon “appeared to carry no immediate practical effect” — none of the recipients had been charged federally, and state charges (Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan) are beyond federal pardon power. The document explicitly excluded Trump himself.

Legal-historic significance: Constitutional scholars described this as the first pardon in U.S. history to cover individuals accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — a self-interested exercise of the clemency power with no parallel in the prior Republic.

Sources: CBS News; The Week; Votebeat; Washington Times; AOL/USA Today (all Nov. 10, 2025).

Second Term Individual Pardons Beyond Jan 6 (2025–Present)