How pardons did trump grant in his first and second terms
Executive summary
Donald Trump issued roughly 237 pardons and commutations during his first presidency (2017–2021), including 144 pardons and about 93 commutations depending on counting method cited in Justice Department and secondary compilations [1] [2]. In his second term he has granted a rapid and far larger stream of clemency actions: public tallies show at least 142 pardons and dozens of commutations by November 2025, plus mass proclamations covering hundreds more (including ~1,500 Jan. 6 beneficiaries in a mass action), leaving reporting estimates of his second‑term total in the many hundreds and counting [3] [4] [5].
1. The baseline: how many clemency actions in Trump’s first term
Official and widely cited compilations put the number of Trump’s clemency acts in his first term at roughly 237—commonly summarized as about 144 pardons and roughly 93 commutations/other clemencies depending on the source used [1] [2]. Multiple public lists and the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney maintain downloadable warrants and lists for 2017–2021 that support that total [6] [2]. Independent trackers note that many of those actions clustered at the end of his first term in January 2021 [1].
2. The explosion: pardons and commutations in the second term so far
Reporting from Ballotpedia and major outlets shows Trump issued at least 142 pardons and about 28 commutations by early November 2025, a pace that outstrips most recent modern presidents and approaches or exceeds his own first‑term totals in a much shorter span [3]. News outlets and watchdogs also document mass proclamations—most notably a January 2025 proclamation pardoning “all individuals convicted of offenses related to events … on January 6, 2021”—which federal postings and press releases indicate applied to large numbers of people and contributed to counts in the hundreds or thousands [5] [4].
3. Why totals differ across trackers: definitions and unnamed beneficiaries
Discrepancies in headline counts stem from methodology: some trackers count only named individual pardon warrants while others include commutations, conditional pardons, and mass proclamations that apply to unnamed groups [3] [1]. Several reputable outlets warn that unnamed beneficiaries in mass pardons and proclamations complicate public accounting; Ballotpedia’s numbers explicitly exclude unnamed individuals in mass pardons unless later identified [3]. The Justice Department keeps an updated page for 2025‑present clemency grants, but outside compilers also draw on independent lists and media reporting [7].
4. Notable kinds of recipients and the political pattern
Coverage shows a pattern: many second‑term grants went to political allies, high‑profile figures, and those portrayed by the White House as victims of a “weaponized” Justice Department, including members of Congress, business figures and Jan. 6 defendants; individual examples cited in reporting include Henry Cuellar, Tim Leiweke and Juan Orlando Hernández [8] [9] [10]. Critics and watchdogs argue these grants represent “patronage pardoning” and a break with long‑standing DOJ review norms; defenders say clemency corrects politicized prosecutions [11] [12].
5. Legal and administrative irregularities flagged by reporters
Multiple outlets and watchdog groups document that Trump’s second‑term pardon program frequently bypassed the Office of the Pardon Attorney and long‑standing review processes, and that politically connected lobbying played a role in some grants [11] [13]. Investigations and reporting have identified lobbying firms and fundraisers active in clemency campaigns, and the Justice Department’s own public pages have logged rapid posting of many grant notices [11] [7].
6. Consequences and controversies tracked by news organizations
Journalists report both practical and reputational consequences: pardoned individuals have been arrested again in some cases; foreign‑policy and corruption concerns emerged after pardons for foreign leaders such as former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández; and civil‑society groups warn the wave of clemencies may normalize impunity for elites [10] [14] [15]. At the same time advocacy groups like Prison Policy note clemency can be a tool to correct sentencing injustice and reduce incarceration—an argument used by some defenders of the president’s actions [16].
7. What available sources do not say and what remains unsettled
Available sources do not provide a single, up‑to‑date, universally agreed numeric total of every individual beneficiary across both terms that reconciles named warrants, commutations and unnamed mass‑proclamation beneficiaries; different reputable trackers use different inclusion rules [3] [1]. For a precise, current tally that matches a specific definition (e.g., “named pardons only” vs. “all beneficiaries of proclamations”), consult the Justice Department’s official pages and cross‑reference major trackers [7] [6].
Bottom line: Trump’s first term produced roughly 237 clemency acts; his second term shows at least 142 named pardons and many more when mass proclamations and commutations are counted, producing a cumulative second‑term total in the hundreds and a controversy over process and motive documented across mainstream outlets and watchdogs [1] [3] [11].