Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States after winning the presidential election by a wide margin in both the popular vote and Electoral College delegates. The former president returns to the White House four years later and does so as the next president of the United States. the first in history to hold the office having been convicted by 34 criminal charges and with numerous outstanding accounts with the justice system for his role in the 2021 Capitol assault.
However, the U.S. Constitution recognizes the president’s ability to grant a presidential pardon to a convicted person. As he is the first president to be convicted, there are no precedents, so the question is forced: could Donald Trump pardon himself as president?
Presidential pardon only applies to crimes against the U.S.
In Trump’s specific case, the nature of his convictions would preclude him from pardoning himself: the 34 counts on which he was convicted are. state convictions of New York State, while the Constitution grants the pardon power to federal crimes.“for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.
The 34 criminal charges in the Stormy Daniels case. would not fall within this considerationso Trump’s only option to clear his record would be to petition the governor of the state of New York. As president, he will not be able to expunge those crimes from his record.