[Sharable video op-ed from the New York Times, originally published April 9, 2026.]
In addition to people who already had prior criminal records (pdf) for crimes including rape, drug trafficking, pedophilia, sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence and production of child sexual abuse material, Trump has been pardoning an inordinately high number of white collar criminals who were convicted of fraud, including bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The white collar criminals include politicians, business executives and billionaires. Trump has also zeroed out about $2 billion fines and restitution (pdf) that these criminals were ordered to pay as part of their sentences. The criminals owed fines to the government to compensate U.S. taxpayers for the massive frauds they committed against Medicare and tax evasion, and the restitution they owed was to be paid to victims to compensate for their crimes. But now, thanks to Trump, none of the victims will see any of their hard-earned money back, nor will U.S. taxpayers.
Many of Trump’s pardon recipients had contributed to Trump’s campaign or otherwise funneled money to Trump-related interests.
Trump himself is a white collar criminal who was convicted of 34 felony counts of business fraud.
