--- title: Donald Trump Says He Can Pardon Himself, But Voters Disagree description: President Donald Trump has asserted that he has the "absolute right" to pardon himself if charged with a crime, but most voters disagree. canonical: https://time.com/5311182/donald-trump-self-pardon-poll/ author: Abigail Simon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-13T16:40:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:33:45.173Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says He Can Pardon Himself. Most Voters Disagree og:description: Republicans are split on the question, however. og:url: https://time.com/5311182/donald-trump-self-pardon-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt514603768b2d26db/698932af4ee262a7f43120c8/gettyimages-970474584.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3678 og:image:height: 2069 og:image:alt: Group of Seven (G7) Leaders Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says He Can Pardon Himself. Most Voters Disagree twitter:description: Republicans are split on the question, however. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt514603768b2d26db/698932af4ee262a7f43120c8/gettyimages-970474584.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He Can Pardon Himself. Most Voters Disagree > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Abigail Simon](https://time.com/author/abigail-simon/) ## Abigail Simon Jun 13, 2018 4:40 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a meeting during the Group of Seven (G7) Leaders Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, on June 9, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a meeting during the Group of Seven (G7) Leaders Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, on June 9, 2018.Cole Burston—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Abigail Simon](https://time.com/author/abigail-simon/) ## Abigail Simon Jun 13, 2018 4:40 PM UTC President Donald Trump has asserted that he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself if charged with a crime, but a new poll shows the large majority of registered voters do not agree. In [a recent survey from Morning Consult and Politico](https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/180612%5Fcrosstabs%5FPOLITICO%5Fv1%5FDK.pdf), 58% of registered voters said they do not believe the president has the power to pardon himself, while only 21% agree with Trump on the issue. The poll was conducted June 7-10, several days after the New York _Times_ [published a memo](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/02/us/politics/trump-legal-documents.html) from Trump’s lawyers asserting the power of the president to pardon himself and Trump tweeted that “numerous legal scholars” have stated that he has the absolute right to do so. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1003616210922147841) A 1974 [memo](https://www.justice.gov/file/20856/download) written by the Office of Legal Counsel under President Nixon [stated that the president cannot self-pardon](http://time.com/4868108/donald-trump-pardon-himself/) based on the longstanding legal principle that no person can be their own judge, although the Supreme Court has never ruled on the issue. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said recently that Trump would not pardon himself because it would lead to impeachment by the House of Representatives. **Read More:** [_Can President Trump Pardon Himself?_](http://time.com/4868108/donald-trump-pardon-himself/) The sentiment against self-pardons was even stronger among some groups, with 76% of Democrats and 61% of independents saying it is not legally permissible. Republicans, however, were split, with 36% saying it was not permissible and 33% saying it is. The survey of 1,994 registered voters nationwide had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5311182/donald-trump-self-pardon-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5311182/donald-trump-self-pardon-poll/"},"headline":"President Trump Says He Can Pardon Himself. 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