How many presidential pardons did Donald Trump grant
Executive summary
Public records and multiple news outlets show Donald Trump has issued thousands of clemency actions in his second term, including blanket pardons tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that covered roughly 1,500 people and a continuing stream of high‑profile individual pardons; totals reported by outlets range from about 1,800+ clemencies overall to specific counts of 142 individual pardons in the second term as of Nov. 9, 2025 [1] [2] [3]. Official Justice Department pages list and update clemency proclamations and mass pardons, while news organizations and watchdogs provide ongoing tallies and critical context [4] [5].
1. What the official record shows: proclamations and posted lists
The Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney posts formal clemency proclamations and maintains pages titled for President Donald J. Trump’s clemency grants; those pages are being updated through December 3, 2025, and document mass proclamations such as the January 20, 2025, pardons tied to January 6 cases [4]. The department is the primary official repository for presidential clemency actions, and it has posted and revised documents related to Trump’s pardons [4] [6].
2. Counts vary depending on what you include — mass pardons skew totals
Some outlets and aggregators count only individually named pardons and commutations, while others include unnamed recipients of mass proclamations. Newsweek, PBS and Newsnight–style reporting say Trump pardoned “nearly 1,500” or roughly 1,600 people convicted or charged in January 6‑related cases on inauguration day, a move that dramatically increases any simple tally [1] [5] [7]. Ballotpedia’s November 9, 2025, snapshot reported 142 named pardons in Trump’s second term (excluding unnamed beneficiaries of mass proclamations), plus 28 commutations — a figure noted as separate from mass, unnamed pardons [3].
3. Independent tallies and investigative outlets report higher totals
The Guardian and other outlets report that when you add mass proclamations and later individual pardons, Trump “has granted clemency to more than 1,800 people,” a total that includes blanket January 6 pardons and multiple other pardons and commutations across 2025 [2]. This higher figure reflects a broader counting method that treats mass proclamations as multiple clemency acts rather than single legal instruments [2].
4. Who’s been pardoned and why this matters
Reporting shows Trump’s recent pardons include a mixture of high‑profile figures — sitting or former elected officials, entertainers, business executives and foreign leaders — plus large groups tied to political events such as January 6 and the “alternate electors” effort; critics argue many recipients are political allies or supporters [1] [5] [8]. PBS and Newsweek highlight that many of the individual pardons relate to white‑collar fraud or public‑corruption cases that involved significant financial losses to victims [9] [5].
5. Legal and political controversy around mass pardons
Mass proclamations have produced legal uncertainty and sharp pushback from judges, some prosecutors and law‑enforcement groups; courts and some legal observers have been skeptical about how surrounding charges and collateral state cases will be affected, and judges have written sharply critical opinions in related litigation [8] [7]. The Justice Department’s handling of publicly posted pardon documents also drew scrutiny when identical signature images appeared on multiple pardons and were later corrected, fueling debate about process and transparency [6].
6. Competing narratives: restoration of justice vs. politicized clemency
Supporters frame the pardons as correcting alleged prosecutorial overreach and protecting political allies from what they call weaponized justice; administration statements assert a review process conducted by White House counsel and lawyers [1] [10]. Critics, including watchdogs and criminal‑justice reform advocates, argue the pace and selection of pardons favors friends and undermines accountability, and that many pardoned individuals were not through normal pardon review channels [11] [2].
7. What reporting does not settle (and what to watch next)
Available sources document the mass January 6 proclamations and dozens of high‑profile individual pardons, but totals depend on methodology: whether unnamed beneficiaries of blanket proclamations are counted and whether commutations are included [4] [3] [2]. Sources do not provide a single universally accepted final total as of Dec. 5, 2025; official DOJ pages are the canonical list but news organizations continue to produce rolling tallies and analysis [4] [3].
Bottom line: if you count every individual covered by mass proclamations plus named pardons and commutations, reporting places Trump’s clemency actions well into the thousands (roughly 1,800+ in major press summaries); if you count only individually named pardons issued in his second term, Ballotpedia’s November 9, 2025, snapshot lists 142 pardons and 28 commutations — both figures are supported in current reporting [2] [3].