President Donald Trump is clarifying his stance on the possibility of pardoning music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs following his recent legal battles.
Months after stating during a White House press briefing that he would “certainly look at the facts” regarding a potential pardon, Trump, 79, indicated on Friday, Aug. 1, that such a move is now improbable.
Combs, 55, was acquitted last month of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges but convicted on lesser charges related to the transportation of individuals for prostitution, following a widely publicized federal trial in New York City.
“Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent,” Trump told Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty. “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 also touched on his past relationship with Combs, recalling their interactions in the late 1990s. “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. … It’s hard,” Trump said.
“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… I’m being honest—it makes it more difficult to do.”
Among Combs’ more pointed remarks about Trump was his 2020 interview with Charlamagne tha God where he said Trump had done a “great job of rattling America” and criticized him for comments such as “stand back and stand by.”
“Seeing what’s going on, White men like Trump need to be banished. That way of thinking, it’s real dangerous,” Combs said at the time. “This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families about going to vote… The No. 1 priority is to get Trump out of office.”
When asked this week by Newsmax whether a pardon for Combs was “more likely a no,” Trump replied, “I would say so.”
Elsewhere in the segment, the president also addressed the possibility of pardons for Ghislaine Maxwell and Rep. George Santos, stating that he has the authority to issue pardons in both cases.
Combs is currently incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of 51 to 63 months, while his legal team has requested 21 to 27 months.
Back in May, Trump told reporters he had not spoken to Combs in years but was open to reviewing the case. “If I think someone was mistreated, it wouldn’t matter whether they like me or don’t,” he told ABC News.
