WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump said he will issue pardons en masse to his closest advisers at the end of his second presidential term. Trump has also considered hosting a news conference at the end of his term to announce the mass pardons.

"I'll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office]," Trump said. In an earlier conversation, he said he would pardon anyone who came within 10 feet of the presidential office. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the remarks, saying, "The Wall Street Journal should learn to take a joke. However, the president's pardon power is absolute."

Since beginning his second presidency, Trump has granted clemency to more than 1,800 people. On the first day of his second term, he granted unconditional pardons to 1,500 people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, including those charged or convicted of assaulting or resisting law enforcement during the riot.

Those pardons have generated legal disputes. A man accused of planting two pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic national committee headquarters the night before the Capitol attack asked a judge to dismiss his charges, arguing they should be cleared because of Trump's widespread pardons of those involved in the Jan. 6 attack. A Trump-appointed federal prosecutor asked the judge to deny the dismissal request. The judge overseeing the case has not yet ruled on the defendant's motion.

In October, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Zhao had been sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program. The White House said that Zhao had been "prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency."

Trump also granted clemency to former congressman George Santos, who had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. Trump commuted Santos's seven-year prison sentence, leading to Santos's release after three months in prison. In discussing the clemency decision, Trump said, "He lied like hell. But he was 100% for Trump."

The Biden administration sought to prosecute Trump for alleged offenses, including illicitly seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat.