Donald Trump Says Pardon For Diddy Likely Won’t Happen Due To Past Words

President Donald Trump has revealed he’s on the fence about granting Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs a presidential pardon. After previously hinting he was open to the idea, the 45th and 47th POTUS is now singing a different tune in a new interview.

Before Judge Arun Subramanian decided on whether Diddy would be released on bond after he was acquitted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, President Trump said he was “more than open” to issuing Diddy a pardon.

The politician’s comments echo something similar he said weeks before, according to The Blast, in which he mentioned looking “at the facts” of Diddy’s case, “whether they like me or don’t like me,” to determine if he was “mistreated” by the federal government in his trial.

However, during his recent conversation with Rob Finnerty on Newsmax, Trump’s stance on the matter shifted.

On August 1, 2025, Trump said Diddy was “sort of half-innocent,” referring to his being found guilty of prostitution charges but not of the more serious charges mentioned above. “I don’t know what they do, still in jail or something. But he was celebrating a victory, but I guess it wasn’t as good of a victory,” Trump added.

Trump then took a trip down memory lane, explaining that he was “very friendly” with Diddy before his first run for public office. “I got along with him great. Seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile,” Trump said, calling his current position on the pardon “hard.”

“We’re human beings. We don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, 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’s more difficult,” Trump stated. “Makes it more, I’m being honest, makes it more difficult to do.”

According to a report from Billboard, Diddy has been outspoken about Trump and his politics in the past.

In one specific interview from 2020, Diddy said he believed America would be involved in a “race war” if Trump were elected.

During another conversation on Revolt, Diddy told radio personality Charlamagne Tha God that “white men like Trump need to be banished.”

“That way of thinking, it’s real dangerous. This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families about going to vote. ‘Stand back and stand by,'” Diddy stated before explaining that “the No. 1 priority is to get Trump out of office.”

Elsewhere, during Trump’s conversation with Newsmax, the Commander-in-Chief stated that after learning more about Diddy’s previous comments, issuing him a pardon is “more likely a no.”

One of the reasons many held out hope for a Diddy pardon is that Trump has already issued several high-profile pardons, including for NBA Youngboy and reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley.

In a now-viral video, Trump informed Savannah Chrisley that her parents were being released from federal prison, calling their incarceration a “terrible thing.”

“But it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow,” he stated, adding, “We’ll try getting it done tomorrow. So give them — I don’t know them but give them my regards and wish them — wish them a good life.”