President Donald Trump said Monday he would protect Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) CEO Elon Musk if Democrats pursued efforts to arrest him after the midterm elections.

Trump May Issue Preemptive Pardons

In an appearance on the New York Post's Pod Force One podcast, Trump was asked if he would issue sweeping pardons if the Democrats were to arrest Musk and nationalize his companies like SpaceX and Tesla Inc. (TSLA). "It's talk," Trump said, but added that even if it was talk, "we'll have to protect them."

Trump then said that former President Joe Biden had issued similar pardons hours before leaving office last year to the Select Committee investigating the January 6 United States Capitol Attack in 2021.

Biden also issued a pardon to Former Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. "I would if I needed to. Sure," Trump said, when asked if he would issue pardons for his associates and people who worked for him. "I would not even think about it. I'd do it. I did it for J6 [January 6]," He added.

Adam Schiff Slams Trump's 'Cronies'

Following the interview, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) slammed Trump over his comments via a post on the social media platform X on Monday.

"Donald Trump wants to give his cronies and enablers blanket immunity for any criminal conduct" they were involved with as part of the administration or otherwise, Schiff said.

"This won't prevent their malfeasance from coming to light. They will be held to account for the cost of their corruption," the California Democrat said.

Elon Musk Clashes With Democrats on Starlink

Talks of his arrest and seizing his companies came after Ukrainian officials reported disruptions in drone operations via Starlink amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Musk said that the disruptions were out of SpaceX's hands as the Starshield system was operated by the Trump administration.

On the other hand, Trump officials denied ordering the slowdown of services. Musk then acknowledged that it was SpaceX that ordered the slowdown, saying that Ukraine violated the terms of Starlink, which prevent it from being used in defense operations, as it is a civilian network.

The row invited sharp criticism from Democratic Party lawmakers, as well as experts, with Economist Robert Reich calling for Musk's SpaceX to be nationalized, following which Musk said that Reich should be imprisoned. Reich, meanwhile, doubled-down on his criticism.