Many MAGA hardliners in Donald Trump's White House are quietly panicking that they're going to prison — and no preemptive presidential pardon will be enough to save them.
Administration insiders told Zeteo's Asawin Siebsaeng that officials such as Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth fear the midterms will put them in grave danger of impeachment.
And, though Trump has reportedly floated the idea of pardons, they worry they will not be enough to save them, Zeteo's senior political correspondent wrote.
"Some of them have told me they’ve noticed a growing trend of Democratic politicians making public calls for aggressive prosecutions of Trumplanders in the future — a trend one Trump aide privately lamented as 'kind of worrisome,'" he wrote.
"And a significant number of senior appointees working in Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon, in Stephen Miller’s White House, and in so many other departments and crime-laboratories of the Trump-Vance administration do not think that federal pardons will be enough."
While publicly remaining silent, much of Trump's inner circle privately acknowledges polling data that shows Democrats will likely retake the House in 2026, Siebsaeng wrote. Administration insiders also recognize that, eventually, progressive political opponents will likely control the White House again.
Team Trump anticipates intense Democratic voter demand for aggressive accountability measures, he wrote. Progressive politicians are expected to pursue what Democrats characterize as "retribution" investigations into the administration's conduct.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump has promised to sign mass pardons for administration officials before leaving office.
Last year, multiple Trump administration officials purchased new legal insurance and professional-liability coverage in anticipation of future Democratic investigations or prosecutorial subpoenas, sources told Zeteo. This approach mirrors tactics employed by January 6 committee staff members before the 2022 elections, when they similarly prepared for potential Republican-controlled congressional oversight.
But actions in recent months — particularly during Trump's Iran conflict, which intensified internal leaking, recriminations, blame-shifting, and institutional paranoia — have revealed a notable shift in administration sentiment, Siebsaeng wrote.