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Notes -
He can swear it publically and drop out of the race before the pardon. As for running in 2028, he's gonna be 5 years older, obviously and unambiguously breaking a sworn oath by running, facing a more established candidate (an incumbent Republican president, quite possibly), that's probably enough to guarantee him a loss. If Trump believes he's gonna win 2024 he might not go for such a deal, but his stated position is that the last election was rigged; does he believe he can win, enough to risk jail? Enough to refuse an offer to make it a draw and walk away with dignity?
If you actually think this is a possibility I do not trust your estimations of American politics. Do you think his base would be happy with that? Do you think he'd be willing to trust the system given everything that's happened to him (crossfire hurricane, everything strzok touched, judge Chutkan's public comments...)?
I think he's just raising it as a hypothetical. I agree it's not realistic in the slightest, though for a different albeit related reason - I just think it would be wildly out of character for Trump.
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