#Socialites, come get into this. Just one day before voters decide who runs Congress, President Donald Trump went on a podcast and basically said if Democrats take over and start digging, he’s got his pardon pen ready.
Trump told the “Pod Force One” podcast, published Monday, that he would move to protect the billionaire SpaceX and Tesla CEO if congressional investigators came for him. Host Miranda Devine asked whether he’d pardon the people around him before Democrats could go after them.
His answer was a casual “I would if I needed to. Sure.” Trump first brushed off the idea of Democrats investigating Musk as just talk, then added that if it is talk, “we’ll have to protect them.”
Trump also waved off the notion that Democrats would try to nationalize SpaceX, but he said he’d shield any aide who ends up in the crosshairs. That includes Edward Coristine, the young DOGE staffer from Musk’s government-cutting crew. Coristine, 19, goes by “Big Balls” online, and Trump did not rule out a pardon for him…
So why are Democrats even eyeing Musk? They’ve floated probes into whether his businesses benefited from his closeness to Trump, and the administration has handed his companies new contracts, including a $5.9 billion SpaceX deal. Some Democrats have also vowed to revive investigations into the cuts DOGE made.
To be clear, what’s being discussed on the Democratic side is oversight and subpoenas, not criminal charges. Congress investigates; prosecutors prosecute. A pardon is a get-out-of-jail card for federal crimes, and Trump’s talk of using it early tells you how worried the White House might be about what an investigation turns up.
Trump pointed to precedent to justify it. He referred to his pardons tied to the January 6 attack, saying he pardoned everyone. Translation: he’s done it before, so why would he flinch now?
Polls open Tuesday. What Congress looks like Wednesday morning will decide whether any of this stays hypothetical.