Trump Says He Would Pardon All Administration Staff if Democrats Win Congress in Midterms

President Donald Trump said he would pardon everyone who has worked in his administration, down to the most junior White House staffers, if Democrats win control of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections. In an interview with Miranda Devine of the New York Post, reported on November 2, 2026, Trump said, "I would if I needed to. Sure," and noted the pardons would cover everyone on his payroll. He pointed to his pardons of roughly 1,500 people over the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, issued on the first day of his second term, and said he could use a tactic his predecessor, Joe Biden, employed, namely preemptive pardons. A Democratic majority in either chamber could put aides under oath, obtain their emails and require public answers for the rest of his term. Senior Democrats have named targets including Trump's children, the Epstein files, ICE and corporations that made deals with the administration. Sen. Elissa Slotkin said last month she wants cases built against staff who carried out Trump's orders. The Supreme Court gave the president immunity but none to his aides. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich urged groundwork for nationalizing SpaceX, and other lawmakers want to investigate DOGE staffers who cut agency budgets.

The right-leaning coverage is the only part of the pool that reports the pardon remarks. The Daily Mail leads with a sweeping pledge and "panic" over a Democratic takeover, then lays out the oversight powers Democrats would gain, their named targets, and the statements by Slotkin and Reich. Newsmax is briefer, and its headline stresses that Trump could use Biden's preemptive pardons to protect allies if Republicans lose the House. So the Daily Mail emphasizes scale and Democratic plans, while Newsmax emphasizes the precedent set by the predecessor. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while right-leaning and alternative outlets had. The alternative source, The Hill, takes a different angle. Its piece, by its headline and excerpt, concerns White House personnel, arguing that women keep leaving while men who warrant removal stay, and it does not mention pardons.