Donald Trump Addresses Possible Sean Combs Pardon

President Donald Trump said that he “would certainly look at the facts” when asked if he would consider pardoning Sean Combs, who’s currently on trial for federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. 

Trump was asked about the possible pardon Friday, May 30, saying, “Nobody’s asked.” He added with a slight chuckle, “I know people are thinking about it. People have been very close to asking.”

Earlier this month, Rolling Stone reported that several longtime friends and allies of Combs were contacting Trump administration officials and others close to the president. Some contacts went as far back as the presidential transition period, with the speculative conversations continuing through the first couple months of Trump’s second term. 

“He’s willing to do anything to get out of jail,” one source close to Combs said. “He’s always been this way. He’s always going to do what he has to do to get out of a situation.” They added: “He doesn’t even like Donald Trump.” 

Trump and Combs were on somewhat friendly terms once before. Trump called Combs “a good friend” during an old episode of The Apprentice, while Combs called Trump “a friend of mine” in 2015, not long after Trump launched his first campaign.

But to the extent that Combs’ feelings about Trump had changed, the president did seem — unsurprisingly — aware of that. Trump said he hadn’t been watching Combs’ trial “too closely,” adding, “I haven’t seen him, I haven’t spoken to him in years. He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics that relationship busted up. From what I read. I don’t know, he didn’t tell me that. But I read some little bit nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden.”

At the end of his answer, Trump said, “I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody is mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me.”

Combs’ federal trial began earlier this month and is expected to continue until around July 4. Prosecutors have accused the hip-hop mogul of using his massive empire as a criminal enterprise that allegedly facilitated the sex trafficking of two women — including his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura” — between 2009 and 2024. 

Despite the efforts of Combs’ allies, some Trump admin officials who were aware of the outreach told Rolling Stone they weren’t taking the possibility of a Combs pardon that seriously. They said even with their pre-existing relationship, the nature of the crimes Combs is accused of would make any potential clemency a public relations nightmare for the White House. 

During his first term, and since returning to office, Trump has occasionally pardoned prominent hip-hop figures, including most recently NBA YoungBoy, who pleaded guilty to gun charges last year. “I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,” YoungBoy wrote on Instagram following the pardon. “This moment means a lot. It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this.”

Lil Wayne also received a pardon from Trump at the end of the president’s first term, with the rapper making several candid comments about his interaction with Trump in a recent Rolling Stone cover story. Those comments, however, frustrated several former White House officials, who said that Wayne seemed ungrateful, and believed that the rapper had played Trump and his advisers, like son-in-law Jared Kushner, into helping him.