By President Donald Trump is openly criticizing his own decision to pardon Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, expressing regret after the longtime congressman immediately declared plans to seek another term in the House—while remaining a Democrat.
Cuellar received a full presidential pardon last Wednesday, erasing a sweeping set of federal charges that included allegations of bribery, money laundering, and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Prosecutors had accused the South Texas lawmaker and his wife of taking approximately $600,000 from Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company and a Mexican financial institution through consulting contracts that investigators described as fraudulent.
Trump reacted with anger after Cuellar’s political intentions became public. In a statement posted to Truth Social, the president accused the congressman of turning his back on him.
“Only a short time after signing the Pardon, Congressman Henry Cuellar announced that he will be ‘running’ for Congress again, in the Great State of Texas (a State where I received the highest number of votes ever recorded!), as a Democrat,” Trump wrote.
He continued: “Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like. Oh’ well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”
The pardon had raised eyebrows throughout the GOP, particularly because Cuellar’s district — Texas’s 28th — has long been considered one of the more competitive Democratic-held seats in the country. Party strategists hoped the federal indictment would make the seat a top Republican target going into the 2026 midterm elections.
Cuellar has held the district since 2005 and is one of the last remaining socially conservative Democrats in Congress. He twice supported efforts to impeach Trump during the president’s first term, further intensifying Republican frustration over the pardon.
Trump later told supporters that his motivation stemmed from an emotional appeal from Cuellar’s daughters, who argued that their father’s outspoken handling of immigration and border enforcement issues may have led to unfair scrutiny.
“We also believe that our father’s independence and honesty may have contributed to how this case began,” the daughters wrote in a personal letter sent to the White House last month. “With all our hearts, we humbly ask that you show mercy and compassion to our parents.”
Trump released an image of the letter and defended the pardon as an act of conscience.
“The Dems were vicious, and all because Henry strongly wanted, correctly, BORDER SECURITY! He was against illegals pouring into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted,” the president wrote. “It was all very unfair what they were doing to him and his family, so much so that his daughters wrote me a beautiful letter about their parents.”
Trump added: “I never spoke to the Congressman, his wife, or his daughters, but felt very good about fighting for a family that was tormented by very sick and deranged people.”
Cuellar confirmed his reelection plans almost immediately after the pardon went into effect, effectively shutting down what many Republicans had viewed as a potential path to flip the seat in 2026.
For Trump, the episode underscores a sharp political miscalculation: a high-profile pardon delivered across party lines has now strengthened a Democratic incumbent rather than weakening one.
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