U.S. President Donald Trump said he is ready to grant preemptive pardons to Elon Musk and his closest aides in case Democrats gain control of Congress after the midterm elections, UNN reports, citing Bloomberg.
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In an interview, the U.S. president dismissed suggestions that Democrats might try to nationalize Musk’s company SpaceX, but assured that he would "protect" the billionaire entrepreneur and any of his aides who could become targets of investigations by congressional investigators. Among them is Edward Coristine, a participant in Musk’s DOGE project aimed at cutting government programs.
Trump confirmed that, if necessary, this could mean granting preemptive pardons.
"Of course, if such a need arose, I would do it," he said in a conversation with conservative commentator Miranda Devine on her "Pod Force One" podcast. "I wouldn’t even hesitate."
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The publication notes that former U.S. President Joe Biden granted preemptive pardons to his son Hunter Biden, as well as to several government officials who could have become targets of retaliation by the second Trump administration. Trump cited this precedent as justification for his promise to protect his own aides.
"That’s exactly what Biden did. He pardoned everyone," Trump added, referring to pardons for individuals who helped investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting Republicans during the midterm elections. On Friday, he wrote on the social network X that preserving the Republican Party’s majority in the Senate is a key condition for preventing the establishment of a "permanent one-party system" under Democratic rule.