United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that he does not intend to grant a presidential pardon to music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, despite a personal request from the hip-hop star, according to an interview published this week.
Trump told The New York Times that Combs, who is serving a federal prison sentence for two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution, had sent him a letter asking for clemency.
The president, however, said he was not inclined to grant it.
Combs, 56, was convicted in July 2025 of lesser prostitution-related offences after a jury acquitted him of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
He is currently serving a sentence of just over four years and is expected to remain in custody until at least 2028.
Trump said the rapper’s past criticism of him during his political career has complicated any possibility of clemency, noting their relationship changed after Combs became publicly hostile toward him.
In the same interview, Trump also said he has no plans to issue pardons to several other high-profile figures, including former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is facing drug trafficking charges in the United States, as well as disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried and former Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. �
EW.com
Trump’s remarks underscore his selective use of presidential clemency powers amid ongoing debate over criminal justice and political influence.
Since returning to office in January 2025, he has issued pardons to more than 1,500 people convicted in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack and to other allies, but has drawn sharp criticism for those decisions and for sparing political allies.
