Which categories of offenses were most commonly pardoned by Trump each year?

1. 2017–2021: White‑collar and politically connected beneficiaries dominated

During Trump’s first presidency the clemency record shows a concentration of pardons for financial, regulatory and campaign‑related offenses, and a notable number of high‑profile, politically connected recipients. Public tallies list 144 pardons across the four years, with a small number early on and two large end‑of‑term waves in late 2020 and January 2021 — including figures like financiers and former officials ^{[1] [5]}. Observers and a Harvard Law analysis flagged that many 2020 grants had personal or political ties to the president ^[1].

2. 2025 onward: A sea change — mass pardons for January 6 and election‑related cases

The clemency pattern flips in Trump’s second term. On Jan. 20, 2025, he issued a proclamation pardoning nearly everyone convicted or charged for offenses tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — a set totaling about 1,500 people — making those offenses the single largest category of pardoned conduct in a single action ^{[2] [6] [4]}. Separately, later proclamations and lists explicitly covered individuals involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and “alternate electors,” extending clemency to a political‑activity category ^{[3] [7]}.

3. Year‑by‑year shape: few pardons early, concentrated pulses late

Available official counts show a lumpy, pulse‑driven practice rather than a steady flow. First‑term annual totals were low in 2017–2019 (1, 6, 11 pardons respectively), surged in 2020 (52 pardons) and exploded with 74 in January 2021 ^[1]. In the second term, the Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation alone accounts for roughly 1,500 recipients, and other 2025 actions added hundreds more; Ballotpedia and other aggregators report dozens to hundreds of individual pardons beyond that proclamation ^{[2] [8] [4]}.

4. Which offense categories were most common each year — what sources say and what they don’t

• 2017–2019: sources list isolated pardons across varied offenses — tax, firearms, and other federal convictions — but do not provide a full categorical year‑by‑year breakdown beyond counts ^{[1] [9]}. Available sources do not mention a complete, official per‑year offense‑category table.
• 2020: reporting and DOJ lists show a heavy concentration of white‑collar and politically connected clemencies alongside commutations ^{[1] [9]}.
• January 2021 (end of first term): a large batch included high‑profile political allies and others; media compiled the list but DOJ retains the authoritative warrant records ^{[1] [5]}.
• 2025: the dominant category by count is Jan. 6‑related offenses because of the blanket proclamation; election‑related conduct (fake electors, lawyers who challenged results) becomes another large category due to later proclamations and individual pardons ^{[2] [3] [7]}.

5. Competing interpretations: mercy, politics or a new clemency strategy

Supporters describe many of these as corrections of perceived injustices (e.g., excessive sentences or politicized prosecutions) and argue the pardon power permits such corrective action ^[10]. Critics say the pattern — especially mass relief for political allies and January 6 defendants — reflects reward for loyalty and a break with traditional, vetting‑based clemency practice; watchdogs and former prosecutors framed these moves as politicized and corrosive ^{[1] [11] [12]}. Reporting documents both perspectives and notes that many second‑term pardons were issued by proclamation rather than through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s usual process ^{[10] [1]}.

6. Limitations and gaps in available reporting

The Justice Department publishes warrant lists but does not supply an easy public breakdown by legal offense category per calendar year; media compilations and Wikipedia aggregates fill some gaps but vary in method and cutoff dates ^{[13] [14] [15]}. Sources do not provide a single, authoritative per‑year table mapping counts to exact offense categories; therefore precise year‑by‑year rankings by category cannot be fully reconstructed from the material provided ^{[15] [14]}.

7. Bottom line for your question

If “most commonly pardoned” means sheer counts: in 2017–2021 the most frequent beneficiaries were people convicted of white‑collar and politically connected offenses with major end‑of‑term spikes in 2020–Jan. 2021 ^[1]. In 2025 the clear plurality by count were those convicted or charged with Jan. 6‑related offenses (about 1,500) and later additions tied to 2020 election efforts and political allies ^{[2] [3] [7]}.