Donald Trump has pledged to pardon anyone who worked with him, invoking Joe Biden’s use of pardons as justification for a promise with potentially broad reach.

In an interview, Trump said he would act “just as Joe Biden did to all his corruption partners and circle”. The description of Biden’s associates as corrupt is Trump’s allegation, not an established fact.

The breadth of the commitment is its defining feature: Trump described potential recipients by their association with him rather than by reference to particular offences or cases. His comparison with Biden presents the proposed action as following a precedent, but does not itself establish that the circumstances are equivalent.

The statement is a pledge, rather than an announcement of completed pardons. Who would receive them, what conduct they would cover and when they would be granted remain unclear.