President Trump has exercised the authority of his office to pardon several high-profile celebrities lately, including reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley. On Friday, he was asked whether he would consider pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs, the rap mogul who is currently on trial in New York.
In 2012, when Trump was hosting “The Apprentice” on NBC, Trump once said he was a “good friend” of Combs, according to Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who asked the president whether would consider a pardon for Diddy.
“Nobody’s asked… [but] I know people are thinking about it,” Trump responded, saying he hasn’t been following the Combs trial coverage closely. “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 he sort of, that relationship busted up.”
Regarding issuing pardons, Trump said, “It’s not a popularity contest… I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me.”
Trump’s remarks came during a press conference Friday in the Oval Office to praise tech mogul Elon Musk, who is stepping away from the administration after heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Earlier this week, Musk criticized Trump’s “massive spending bill” in an interview with CBS’s “Sunday Morning,” saying the legislation “undermines the work” of DOGE.
