From an interview that aired on Newsmax on August 1, President Donald Trump broke his silence on the possibility of pardoning Sean "Diddy" Combs for the first time since the music mogul was acquitted of the most serious charges in his recent federal sex-crimes trial. When asked by host Rob Finnerty if he would consider a pardon, Trump gave a revealing response, stating that negative comments Combs had made about him would make a pardon "more difficult."
The president's comments came just weeks after a jury found Combs not guilty of the most severe charges he faced: racketeering and sex trafficking. Despite this victory, Combs was still convicted on "two counts of the lesser charge of transportation to engage in prostitution." In a moment of reflection on the verdict, Trump offered a unique perspective, stating, "Well he was essentially, I guess sort of, half-innocent." He added, "I don't know what they do, he's still in jail or something. He was celebrating a victory but I guess it wasn't as good of a victory."
Trump’s reluctance to grant a pardon appears to be deeply personal. He recalled his past relationship with Combs, saying, "You know, I was very friendly with him, I got along with him great, seemed like a nice guy." However, that dynamic shifted when he ran for office. "When I ran for office he was very hostile," Trump said, referencing Combs' "expletive-filled 2017 comments in The Daily Beast" where the mogul suggested that Black people did not "really care about Trump." Trump added a human element to his decision-making process, saying, "we're human beings and we don't like to have things cloud our judgement, right? But when you knew someone and you were fine and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements... so I don't know... it makes it more difficult to do." When Finnerty pressed him on whether a pardon was "more likely a no for Combs," Trump replied, "I'd say so."
This latest stance is a subtle but significant shift from Trump's earlier comments. In May, while in the Oval Office, he had initially weighed in on the possibility of a pardon, noting that although "Nobody's asked" for one yet, "I know people are thinking about it." At the time, he emphasized his past positive relationship with Combs, saying, "I haven't spoken to him in years. He really liked me a lot." The most recent interview reveals that Combs' past criticisms have now become a major factor in the president’s consideration, suggesting that the path to a presidential pardon is far more complex than just legal merits and is now entangled with personal and political history.
