The fact that the president has the power to pardon people I am not sure if that power of pardon includes himself otherwise I think that Nixon would have pardoned himself and not leave it to Ford to do after Nixon was out of office. I think it takes another sitting president to pardon a ex president. Thus Trump should not have the power to pardon himself in my opinion.
No, he or she cannot pardon himself.
Nixon asked the DOJ about it 3 days before he resigned, the answer was no then, and there have been no changes to the relevant laws since. Its even less likely now, since our justice system leans heavily towards established precedent, and the ruling for Nixon is the only precedent available.
The point is moot to some degree anyways. By definition, to accept a pardon, one must plead guilty to the crimes in question. If Trump was able to pardon himself, the justice system might not be able to put him in jail, but congress would have more than enough fuel to impeach him.
Edited: daishain on 8th Jun, 2018 - 6:17pm
Only the president holds the ability to simply pardon someone. So, as in Nixon's case (Pardoned by his successor Ford after Nixon resigned), it would take another president to pardon them.
Of course, if they go to court and win, there's nothing to pardon.
Edited: daishain on 8th Jun, 2018 - 7:36pm