WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the January 6, 2025, Capitol attack on January 20, 2025. Trump called those pardoned "our great hostages," a phrase he used when announcing the pardons on the first day of his second term.

Unlike previous presidents who delayed pardons until their final months in office, Trump began issuing them in the first hours of his second term. Under previous administrations, pardon seekers were expected to wait at least five years after serving their sentences and to demonstrate remorse. Under Trump, no waiting period, no requirement of remorse, and no standard FBI background investigation are required.

Among those pardoned was a defendant who had been serving a 20-year sentence for blasting bear spray into a police officer's mask and bashing another officer in the head with a crutch. Another defendant pardoned on January 20 had been sentenced to 12 and a half years for stealing a Taser and shocking an officer twice, causing the officer to suffer a heart attack.