# If Trump dies unexpectedly before he can preemptively pardon his entire administration and family at the end of his term who are the most likely to flee the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 27, 2026, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-dies-unexpectedly-before-he-can-preemptively-pardon-his-entire-administration-and-family-at-the-end-of-his-term-who-are-the-most-likely-to-flee-the-country/1030424 "2026-05-27T02:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-dies-unexpectedly-before-he-can-preemptively-pardon-his-entire-administration-and-family-at-the-end-of-his-term-who-are-the-most-likely-to-flee-the-country/1030424/21 "2026-05-31T15:41:47Z")
More and more it seems that Trump has absolutely no loyalty to this country and sees it only as another company to strip mine and leave behind. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-dies-unexpectedly-before-he-can-preemptively-pardon-his-entire-administration-and-family-at-the-end-of-his-term-who-are-the-most-likely-to-flee-the-country/1030424/22 "2026-05-31T18:30:24Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > As a precaution, could Trump sign pardons now, and just file them away without publicity, only to be announced if he dies before the end of his term? This sounds like a service he might offer in exchange for an immediate cash or crypto payment. However, he would probably also decide that these pardons expire unless the person on the receiving end continues making increasingly large payments. There is already some evidence out there that Trump has been running a pardons-for-sale racket since his first term. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-dies-unexpectedly-before-he-can-preemptively-pardon-his-entire-administration-and-family-at-the-end-of-his-term-who-are-the-most-likely-to-flee-the-country/1030424/23 "2026-05-31T23:25:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If I’m reading it correctly, Sherrerd is saying that “Trumpisim”, as a movement, could continue under Vance because it’s more than just Trump’s personality/‘charisma’ that is “Trumpism”. Vance can keep selling pardons to the MAGA army, he can keep ripping off the MAGA idiots that’ll buy MAGA merch and most of all, he can keep allowing big businesses to do whatever they want, legal or otherwise, as long as they’re willing to keep lining his pocket. Yes, that’s quite fair. A lot of “Trumpism” is a combination of the advice given Donald by both Roy Cohn and Vlad Putin. And that advice generally boils down to: _steal for yourself, but don’t forget to let supporters steal, too—because that way they’ll do their utmost to keep you in power_. And '_make others pay for your stealing; pose as the Good Guy and never admit a mistake.’_ And of course Vance would be ‘fine’ with all that. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-dies-unexpectedly-before-he-can-preemptively-pardon-his-entire-administration-and-family-at-the-end-of-his-term-who-are-the-most-likely-to-flee-the-country/1030424/24 "2026-06-01T02:42:10Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > could Trump sign pardons now, and just file them away without publicity, only to be announced if he dies before the end of his term? It sounds like he can give out secret pardons to the affected individuals, and keep them secret from the public. But if he doesn’t tell anyone, probably not. But it would be up to SCOTUS. Here is a law review article: > **[Dresser Drawer Pardons: Presidential Pardons as Private Acts - The George...](https://lawreview.gmu.edu/print__issues/dresser-drawer-pardons-presidential-pardons-as-private-acts/)** As with everything in this thread, he depends on how Trump dies unexpectedly. It Trump knows he has a fatal illness but wants to hide it, I think he would do some dresser drawer pardons. If Trump died violently, he probably would posthumously get pretty much everything he wanted when alive. If he dies of an illness hidden from the public, his desires would be least likely to be regarded. If he dies suddenly of an illness he didn’t know about, it would be something in the middle. But regardless of how he dies, I do not think his people will flee abroad. There’s too much chance of extradition. Someone like Putin can not be trusted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-dies-unexpectedly-before-he-can-preemptively-pardon-his-entire-administration-and-family-at-the-end-of-his-term-who-are-the-most-likely-to-flee-the-country/1030424.md?page=1)