Trump says it’s ‘very unlikely’ he’d pardon himself

Former President Trump says it is not likely he will pardon himself if he is convicted of a crime and elected president again.

“I could have pardoned myself. Do you know what? I was given an option to pardon myself. I could have pardoned myself when I left,” Trump said as part of an exclusive interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, who will take over as the new moderator of “Meet the Press” this weekend.

“I was told by some people that these are sick lunatics that I’m dealing with,” Trump continued. “‘Give yourself a pardon, your life will be a lot easier.’ I said I would never give myself a pardon.”

Trump said repeatedly he has never had any interest in pardoning himself because he feels he is innocent of the crimes he has been accused of.

Welker pressed Trump, asking him “even if you were reelected in this moment?”

“Well, I think it’s very unlikely,” Trump replied. “What, what did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong. You mean because I challenge an election, they want to put me in jail?”

The short exchange was published by NBC on Thursday evening, ahead of Sunday morning’s “Meet the Press” broadcast, which fill feature Welker’s full interview with Trump.

The former president has been indicted four times this year on charges related to his handling of classified documents, business dealings and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

The GOP front-runner for president in 2024, Trump has said the various criminal indictments he has been hit with are political and designed to keep him from reclaiming the White House.