A presidential preemptive pardon sounds unusual but it has been done before, most famously when President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, who resigned because of the Watergate scandal in 1973 but had not actually been charged with any crimes.
A partial recount in Wisconsin concluded Sunday with President-elect Joe Biden's winning margin over President Trump increasing by 87 total votes.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell told reporters Sunday that Trump netted a gain of 45 votes in the county, which includes the capital Madison. That followed Friday's completed recount in the state's most populous county, Milwaukee, where out of roughly 460,000 ballots cast, Biden made a net gain of 132 votes on review.
The results offer unwelcome news for Trump, who lost to Biden in Wisconsin by roughly 20,000 votes, and lost the national popular vote by more than 6 million.
While the president is well within his rights to seek recounts where applicable and call for an investigation into any irregularities that can be identified, if he waits too long to concede to Joe Biden, he runs the risk of badly tarnishing his reputation.