Stewart Ulrich

Trump Gives Clemency to More Than Two Dozen, Including Political Allies

We continue to see the clemency power used for political purposes: Trump Gives Clemency to More Than Two Dozen, Including Political Allies www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/u...

Modern presidents have shifted the pardon power from an act of mercy to a political tool writes @stewulrich.bsky.social of Sam Houston State University

blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...

American Owners Got Chewed Up by English Soccer. Now They Can’t Stop Winning. Once seen as clueless across the Atlantic, U.S. soccer investors are about to claim championships in each of England’s top three leagues.

www.wsj.com/sports/socce... Fascinating read

Trump’s Approval Rating Has Been Falling Steadily, Polling Average Shows (Gift Article) President Trump’s approval rating has sunk to about 45 percent, down from 52 percent one week after he took office.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/u...

Trump approval falls to 43%, lowest since returning to office, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds President Donald Trump's approval rating fell to 43%, the lowest since his return to office, as Americans soured on his tariff moves and his administration's handling of information about a military strike in Yemen, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

www.reuters.com/default/trum...

Leaving campus after submitting the final version of my dissertation feels both weird and exciting. Wild to be at this stage!

Leaving Chicago after a great time at #MPSA2025. Thanks for all I met and interacted with. Fun time mingling with a bunch of amazing scholars.

Now there's an idea! It was nice to meet you this week.

President Trump pardons former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer President Donald Trump pardoned a former business partner of Hunter Biden who was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe.

apnews.com/article/hunt... We continue to see pardons used as a political tool and not the act of mercy the founders intended.

Many Americans see Trump's actions on economy as too erratic, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds Some 57% of Americans think President Donald Trump is being too erratic in his moves to shake up the U.S. economy, including his aggressive strategy to tax imports that has spooked the stock market, a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Wednesday found.

www.reuters.com/world/us/man... Curious to see what effect, if any, public opinion will have on this administration

Donald Trump's disapproval rating is now higher than his approval rating: projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/approv...

Very thankful for my time at the Univ. of Georgia for getting me to this point. Thanks to @gejohnson.bsky.social, @kstauffer.bsky.social, (and others who aren’t on here) for helping me get here.

Pleased to announce that I will be joining the faculty of Sam Houston State University in the fall as an Assistant Professor of Political Science. Very excited for this new chapter of my career and to continue teaching and researching with my future colleagues there!

youtube.com/watch?v=HlJa... On this #PresidentsDay I am reminded of this great friendship among former rivals and presidents, showing that you can be friends across the aisle.

President Trump sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with the a FIFA World Cup trophy replica on the desk behind him

Noticed this in recent days as Pres. Trump came into office. There is a replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy on the table behind the Resolute Desk, and it struck me as a bit odd. I know the US is co-hosting the tournament next year and it was announced during his 1st term. But still seems odd?

Trump's Inaugural Approval Rating Is Historically Low Again Trump's initial job approval rating is similar to what it was at the start of his first term, reaffirming his position as the lowest-rated new president since 1953.

And Gallup has its first rating of Trump’s 2nd term at 47% job approval, a starting point so low that is only surpassed by his first term: news.gallup.com/poll/655955/...

Fivethirtyeight has Trump’s national favorability at 47.5% unfavorable / 46.9% favorable here: projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favora...

Link not showing the map, so here it is

civiqs.com/results/favo... Interesting to see this favorability rating of Trump on a state-by-state basis. Particularly of note are GA, NC, and VA in the South. Just one poll from one organization, of course, but curious as we’re getting polling on Trump’s 2nd term coming out

Bright vs. blurry lines: how to think about executive power grabs Needless to say, it’s been quite the week (or so) for expansive use of executive power.

open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli... Great piece by @juliaazari.bsky.social examining the executive orders of the new administration

Once again, Trump starts a term with a weak approval rating Introducing 538's new average of President Donald Trump's job approval rating.

Trump starts with a +7 net approval rating (50% approve, 43% disapprove), according to 538's new and constantly-updating average.
That's lower than the starting approval for every other modern president, except Trump's own starting rating in his first term (just +3)
abcnews.go.com/538/trump-st...

A New Era of Pardons Where does it end?

Great piece about the New Era of Pardons we find ourselves in
open.substack.com/pub/sharonmc...

President Biden’s extensive pardons may overshadow the rest of his legacy In the final days of his presidency, Joe Biden pardoned nearly 2,500 people in the biggest act of clemency in presidential history. Stewart Ulrich writes that Biden’s use of this presidential power…

Check out my recent piece on Biden’s pardons leaving office and how it will affect his legacy at the LSE American Politics and Policy blog: blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20... #PoliSci #poliSky

Opinion | Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 insurrectionists turn the Founders’ vision on its head As one of the first acts of his presidency, it certifies his view that we are two nations, not one.

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb... Great piece that puts the Jan 6th pardons in the context of history

Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons Will Encourage More Political Violence The president is sending a message — to both his supporters and his opponents — saying such crimes are fine as long as they are done in his name.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti... In last week’s flurry of pardons, one group stands out as particularly worrying:

Heard someone on the news describe this week as “pardon palooza” and isn’t that the perfect way to describe it? Both the incoming and outgoing president used their pardon pen a lot this week.

President Biden’s extensive pardons may overshadow the rest of his legacy In the final days of his presidency, Joe Biden pardoned nearly 2,500 people in the biggest act of clemency in presidential history. Stewart Ulrich writes that Biden’s use of this presidential power…

Pres. Biden started his term slow to use the clemency power but left office as the modern president who used it the most. His legacy may be overshadowed by these pardons more than any his accomplishments. I wrote about it for the LSE USAPP blog: blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...

Trump’s Jan. 6 clemency ‘flies in the face of the facts’ of violent insurrection, retired federal judge explains The new president has shown clemency to supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

A retired federal judge examines Trump's pardons of hundreds convicted in the violent storming of the Capitol: "When it comes to #Jan6 offenders, not only do I think they received appropriate due process, but in some cases, I believe they received excessive due process."

Trump issues sweeping pardon of supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack President Donald Trump says he is pardoning about 1,500 of his supporters who have been charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S.

apnews.com/article/capi... Man, what a day for pardons. That pardon pen got used mightily by two presidents today.