President Donald Trump said Monday that he would issue preemptive pardons to protect Elon Musk and his aides if Democrats win the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections and open investigations into them.
Trump made the comments on “Pod Force One,” the New York Post podcast hosted by Miranda Devine, in an episode released Monday. Devine raised talk in Democratic circles about arresting Musk and seizing his assets if the party takes power.
“It’s talk, but if it is talk, we’ll have to protect them,” Trump said.
He pointed to the pardons President Joe Biden granted before leaving office. “That’s what Biden did. He gave everybody a pardon,” Trump said. Asked whether he would do the same, he answered: “I would if I needed to, sure. I wouldn’t even think about it. I did it for J6” — a reference to the pardons he issued to people charged over the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Musk spent the opening months of Trump’s presidency leading the administration’s cost-cutting drive, work that made him a leading target of Democratic criticism. He has since put enormous money behind Republican candidates. Musk has put $474 million into boosting Republicans in the 2026 elections, according to a New York Times tally reported by USA Today.
Democrats are favored to win the House in most forecasts. If they do, they will control the committees that run investigations, including the power to call hearings and demand records and testimony. That is the threat Trump’s comments were aimed at: investigations that have not been announced, by a House that has not yet been elected.
There are limits to what a pardon can do, and they matter here. A presidential pardon covers federal offenses only. It cannot stop a state prosecutor from bringing charges, and it offers no protection at all against civil lawsuits.
No investigation of Musk has been announced and no charges are pending against him or his aides. For now, Trump’s promise costs him nothing. It becomes real only if Democrats win on Tuesday and decide to use the power that comes with the majority.
Trump also pledged to veto Democratic bills. Asked in the same interview what he would do if Democrats win the House, Trump said: “I guess I’ll become Mr. Veto. I’m not going to let them ruin it.”
“Look, if we didn’t win, I think we’re going to do great, but if we didn’t win, I’d veto everything. I’ll be vetoing, vetoing,” he said. He predicted that after a month or two of vetoes, Democrats would “come over and make a deal.”
