Rerun

promise

The recurring promise to jail or prosecute political opponents

You're probably here because of the Nov 2025 rerun. This is the 13th time since 2016 this has been promised. The previous rerun was Oct 2025.

About this story

Since 2016, Donald Trump has repeatedly said that named political opponents should be jailed, prosecuted or investigated. Examples include his 2016 debate line to Hillary Clinton that she'd "be in jail," his 2023 promise to appoint a special prosecutor to "go after" Joe Biden, and his September 2025 post urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to charge James Comey, Adam Schiff and Letitia James. Starting in 2025, some of these demands were followed by indictments or attempted indictments. Courts dismissed some of those cases, and some grand juries declined to indict.

Sources: 1, 2

20162026

Nov 2025 Trump posts "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" about six Democratic lawmakers

On Nov. 20, 2025, President Trump called the lawmakers' video "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL" and said they should be "ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL" (CBS News). He also posted "LOCK THEM UP???" and "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" (TIME). The targets were six named Democratic members of Congress: Sens. Slotkin and Kelly and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan. All are veterans of the military or national security agencies (PBS/AP; TIME). At that point no charges had been filed. Several of the lawmakers were told in November that the FBI had opened an inquiry. On Feb. 10, 2026, a federal grand jury declined to indict the six, according to three sources cited by CBS News.

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · Time reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · cbsnews.com reliable

Oct 2025 Trump posts that Garland, Wray, Smith and Monaco "should be prosecuted"

On October 24, 2025, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, former FBI Director Christopher Wray, former special counsel Jack Smith and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco "should be prosecuted." He was referring to the FBI's "Arctic Frost" investigation, which obtained phone records of nine Republican lawmakers. CBS reported that he did not say what crimes he believed they had committed. CBS called the post "the latest instance of Mr. Trump urging the prosecution of people he has singled out as political foes." It noted that a month earlier he had pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into James Comey, Letitia James and Adam Schiff, and that Comey and James had since been criminally indicted. As for what had happened to the four people named by then, CBS reported that a federal watchdog office had launched an investigation into Smith for alleged illegal political activity earlier in the year. Smith's lawyers called the claims "imaginary and unfounded." Neither fetched source reports criminal charges against any of the four.

  • truthsocial.com social post
    These Radical Left Lunatics should be prosecuted for their illegal and highly unethical behavior!
  • cbsnews.com article
    He did not specify what crimes he believes they committed.
  • The Hill article
    Just in: Documents show conclusively that Christopher Wray, Deranged Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, and other crooked lowlifes from the failed Biden Administration, signed off on Operation Arctic Frost

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · The Hill reliable · Yahoo News reliable · NBC News reliable · The Washington Times needs a second source

Oct 2025 Trump says Pritzker and Brandon Johnson "should be in jail"

On October 8, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!" (CBS Chicago, TIME). The post came as Texas National Guard troops arrived in Illinois, during the federal immigration operation in the Chicago area called "Operation Midway Blitz." Illinois and Chicago had sued to block the troop deployment, and a court hearing was set for October 9 (CBS Chicago, Capitol News Illinois, TIME). Pritzker replied, "Come and get me," and Johnson said "I'm not going anywhere." None of the October 8 articles I read mention a criminal referral, investigation or charge against either official.

  • cbsnews.com article
    "Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officers!" Mr. Trump posted. "Governor Pritzker also!"
  • capitolnewsillinois.com article
    "Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power," Pritzker wrote on social media.
  • youtube.com video
    Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officers!

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · capitolnewsillinois.com needs a second source · Time reliable

Jul 2025 Trump reposts AI video of Obama's arrest, then says Obama is "guilty" of "treason" and "it's time to go after people"

Over the weekend, Trump reposted on his social media platform an AI-generated fake video, first posted on TikTok, that showed Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office (ABC News). On July 22, 2025, in the Oval Office, Trump said of Obama "He's guilty … This was treason" and "whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people." The New York Post called this a call for criminal charges against Obama. Axios said Trump declared that Obama and other ex-officials "must be prosecuted." What had been delivered by then: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department (ABC; the Post says it went to Attorney General Pam Bondi on the preceding Friday). None of the cited pages reports charges. AP noted that Obama "has never been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the Russia investigation."

  • ABC News article
    The AI-generated fake video reposted on Trump's social media platform over the weekend showed Obama being arrested in the Oval Office.
  • aol.com article
    After what they did to me, whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly,
  • Axios article
    He raised the stakes Tuesday, declaring in the Oval Office that former President Obama and other ex-officials must be prosecuted
  • c-span.org video Watch

Sources: ABC News reliable · cbc.ca needs a second source · aol.com needs a second source · Axios reliable

Apr 2025 – ongoing Memos directing DOJ probes of Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor

On April 9, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum ordering the Justice and Homeland Security departments to investigate Christopher Krebs, the former head of the federal cybersecurity agency (CISA). A second memo named Miles Taylor, a former DHS official from Trump's first term. The Krebs memo revokes his security clearance and orders the Attorney General and the DHS Secretary to fully review his time in government, including any possible sharing of classified information, and to issue a joint report with recommendations. At the signing in the Oval Office, Trump called Krebs "the fraud" and "a disgrace" and said "we'll find out whether or not it was a safe election, and if it wasn't, he's got a big price to pay, and he's a bad guy" (Votebeat). The memo also revokes the clearances of employees of Krebs' employer, SentinelOne (Votebeat). SentinelOne said it would "actively cooperate in any review of security clearances held by any of our personnel." None of the cited pages, all from April 2025, reports charges.

  • votebeat.org article
    we'll find out whether or not it was a safe election, and if it wasn't, he's got a big price to pay, and he's a bad guy.
  • sentinelone.com statement
    we will actively cooperate in any review of security clearances held by any of our personnel
  • c-span.org video Watch

Sources: votebeat.org needs a second source · sentinelone.com needs a second source

Dec 2024 Jan. 6 committee members "should go to jail"

On NBC's "Meet the Press," aired Dec. 8, 2024, President-elect Trump said Jan. 6 committee members "should go to jail." He named Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson and, asked about the whole committee, said "anybody that voted in favor." Welker asked whether he would direct his FBI director and attorney general to jail them. He said, "No, not at all. I think that they'll have to look at that," and "They can do whatever they want." The Washington Post noted that in March 2023 he had posted that committee members "should be prosecuted for their lies and, quite frankly, TREASON!" At the time of the interview Trump had not taken office, and his picks for attorney general (Pam Bondi) and FBI director (Kash Patel) were still awaiting Senate confirmation (ABC).

  • NBC News broadcast
    – honestly, they should go to jail.
  • ABC News article
    knows his claims about the select committee are ridiculous and false
  • youtube.com video

Sources: NBC News reliable · ABC News reliable · spokesman.com needs a second source · NPR reliable

Nov 2023 Univision interview on using the DOJ against opponents

Univision's Enrique Acevedo asked Trump, then a former president and the front-runner for the Republican nomination, "Would you do the same if you're re-elected?" He was referring to Trump's claim that the Justice Department and FBI had been "weaponized" against him. Trump said "it could certainly happen in reverse." He added that if he were president and saw someone "doing well and beating me very badly, I say, 'Go down and indict them.'" At the time, Trump faced 91 criminal charges in four jurisdictions and had pleaded not guilty to all of them (Axios). A Trump campaign spokesperson told Axios afterward that he was speaking in terms of "future elected officials" and said Biden's actions set "a dangerous example." Semafor reported that a Trump aide said the Biden Justice Department had set a new precedent.

  • semafor.com article
    It could certainly happen in reverse. What they’ve done is they’ve released the genie out of the box.
  • cbsnews.com article
    if I happen to be president and I see somebody who's doing well and beating me very badly, I say, 'Go down and indict them.'
  • Axios article
    terms of future elected officials who see Biden going after his political opponent in this disgusting manner, it sets a dangerous example.
  • youtube.com video

Sources: semafor.com needs a second source · cbsnews.com reliable · Axios reliable · rollcall.com reliable

Jun 2023 Pledge of a "real special prosecutor" to "go after" Biden

On 12 June 2023, days after the Justice Department unsealed a 37-count indictment against him over classified documents, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would "appoint a real special 'prosecutor' to go after" Joe Biden and "the entire Biden crime family" (The Hill). He repeated the pledge in his Bedminster speech on 13 June (CBS News; The Irish Times). Trump was a former president and candidate at the time, so nothing had been delivered. The Hill noted that in 2020 he had asked then–Attorney General Bill Barr to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Biden family. On NBC's Meet the Press (aired 8 December 2024), Welker asked whether he would follow through. Trump said, "no, I'm not doing that unless I find something that I think is reasonable, but that's not going to be my decision" (NBC transcript; Axios). He added that it would be "Pam Bondi's decision" (NBC transcript).

  • The Hill article
    I will appoint a real special 'prosecutor' to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family
  • cbsnews.com article
    I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family

Sources: The Hill reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · irishtimes.com needs a second source · NBC News reliable · Axios reliable

Mar 2023 "I am your retribution" at CPAC

Trump was then a former president running for the 2024 nomination (ABC, NBC). At CPAC on March 4, 2023, he said: "In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today, I add I am your warrior, I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution." According to excerpts of his prepared remarks reported by CNN, the next lines were that he would "totally obliterate the deep state" and fire "the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system." Rev's transcript of the delivered speech, which adds wording to the prepared excerpts, also has him saying he would "direct the Department of Justice to go after Marxist prosecutor's offices." In none of these passages did he name a person to be charged or jailed; NBC described the speech as a vow of "political revenge," and the Washington Post wrote of a "revenge tour." The wave is included as general retribution rhetoric, not a pledge to jail a named opponent. As a former president he held no office at the time, and he was himself under investigation (NBC mentions the Fulton County and classified-documents probes).

  • rev.com statement
    And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.
  • NBC News article
    Trump also vowed political revenge against those enemies.
  • The Washington Post article
    The line validates long-held suspicions that Trump's 2024 campaign amounts to something of a "revenge tour."
  • c-span.org video Watch
    I am your justice...I am your retribution.

Sources: NBC News reliable · ABC News reliable · CNN reliable · rev.com needs a second source

Oct 2020 Trump presses Barr to indict Obama and Biden ahead of the 2020 election

On Oct. 7, 2020, according to the UCSB American Presidency Project's archive, Trump tweeted that he had "fully authorized the total Declassification" of Russia investigation documents. In a later tweet he said the information "was Declassified by me long ago" and that "people have acted very slowly" on what he called "perhaps the biggest political crime in the history of our Country. Act!!!" The same day he tweeted "Where are all of the arrests?" On Oct. 8, in a Fox Business interview, he said "Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes… we'll get little satisfaction, unless I win." He said "these people should be indicted," and that the alleged crime "includes Obama, and that includes Biden." By then, the AP reported, Durham's review of the Russia investigation's origins had produced only one criminal case: former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith's guilty plea for altering a government email. That case "didn't allege any broader FBI conspiracy."

  • The Washington Post article
    Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes — the greatest political crime in the history of our country — then we’ll get little satisfaction, unless I win
  • presidency.ucsb.edu social post
    Where are all of the arrests? Can you imagine if the roles were reversed? Long term sentences would have started two years ago. Shameful!
  • The Washington Post article
    Trump built upon tweets this week suggesting Barr needs to start indicting people tied to the Russia investigation, while explicitly citing President Barack Obama and Biden.

Sources: The Washington Post reliable · The Washington Post reliable · Newsweek (pre–2013) needs a second source · presidency.ucsb.edu reliable

Nov 2018 Report that Trump wanted to order prosecutions of Clinton and Comey

On November 20, 2018, the New York Times reported that Trump told White House counsel Don McGahn in spring 2018 that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey. The paper cited two people familiar with the conversation. According to the report, McGahn told Trump he had no authority to order a prosecution, and he had White House lawyers write a memo warning of the consequences, including possible impeachment (CNBC; Just Security). ABC News linked the report to Trump's October 2016 debate statement: "If I win I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation." What had happened by then: McGahn's lawyer, William Burck, said Trump "never, to his knowledge, ordered that anyone prosecute Hillary Clinton or James Comey." CNN noted that in March 2018 then-Attorney General Sessions said Utah U.S. Attorney John Huber was looking into allegations of FBI surveillance abuse and claims related to Clinton.

  • cnbc.com article
    The Times, citing two people familiar with the conversation, reported that Trump made the remark in the spring to former White House counsel Don McGahn, who told the president that he had no authority to order such action by the DOJ.
  • CNN article
    The President also wanted his previous White House counsel, Don McGahn, to ask the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton on numerous occasions, but McGahn rebuffed doing that, the source said.
  • ABC News article
    The report has raised new questions about whether President Trump sought to use the traditionally independent Justice Department to go after his political enemies.
  • CNN video Watch
    the president told the top White House lawyer in April that he wanted to have him order federal prosecutions of Clinton and Comey, according to two sources

Sources: cnbc.com reliable · CNN reliable · ABC News reliable · justsecurity.org needs a second source

Oct 2016 "You'd be in jail" at the second debate

During the second presidential debate on October 9, 2016, Donald Trump told Hillary Clinton, "If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation." When Clinton said it was "awfully good" that someone with Trump's temperament was "not in charge of the law," Trump replied, "Because you'd be in jail" (ABC News; AP via PBS). The next night at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Trump answered a crowd chant with "Lock her up is right" and repeated his call for a special prosecutor (NBC News). As for what had been delivered: Trump was a candidate, not president. ABC, AP and NBC all reported that the FBI and Justice Department had already closed the investigation into Clinton's email server without charges.

  • ABC News article
    Trump shot back, "Because you'd be in jail."
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    Trump's "jail" line was one of the most-discussed debate moments on social media during the debate.
  • NBC News article
    “Lock her up is right,” he responded to a chant from the crowd as he reiterated a demand for a special prosecutor to look into her private server and missing emails.
  • youtube.com video
    Because you'd be in jail.

Sources: ABC News reliable · NBC News reliable · Public Broadcasting Service reliable · NBC News reliable

Jul 2016 "Lock her up" chants at the Republican convention

At the Republican convention in Cleveland, delegates chanted "Lock her up" about Hillary Clinton. CNN reported that they said she should face charges for setting up a private email server for State Department business. On July 18 Michael Flynn repeated the chant from the stage. On July 19 Christie, a former federal prosecutor, staged a mock "trial" in which the crowd shouted "Guilty!" An article published by adn.com reported that at least three speakers called for Clinton to be jailed. It also reported that at a June rally in San Jose, Trump had said "Hillary Clinton has got to go to jail" and suggested his attorney general would revisit the case. When the chant came up in Trump's July 21 acceptance speech, he answered "Let's defeat her in November," according to The Hill. Nothing had been done toward prosecution by then: on July 6, Attorney General Loretta Lynch closed the email investigation without charges, accepting FBI Director James Comey's recommendation.

  • CNN article
    “Lock her up, that’s right,” Flynn said. “Lock her up.”
  • ABC News article
    leading the audience in Cleveland to shout "Guilty!" over and over again in response to his allegations about the former secretary of state
  • The Hill article
    Trump took a pass on repeating the phrase as he largely stuck to prepared remarks in his closely watched convention address.
  • c-span.org video Watch

Sources: CNN reliable · adn.com needs a second source · The Hill reliable · NPR reliable