President Donald Trump spoke for the first time on whether he would consider pardoning his former friend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs if he is convicted of sex trafficking.
Trump appeared to see a reporter’s question on the controversial matter coming – and did not rule out a pardon for the disgraced rapper and music executive.
‘Nobody’s asked. But I know people are thinking about it. I know they’re thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking,’ said Trump.
‘First of all, I’d look at what’s happening, and I haven’t been watching it too closely, although it’s certainly getting a lot of coverage.’
Trump said he would be open to granting a pardon to Combs if he felt he was ‘mistreated’.
Combs’ high-profile trial came up in the Oval Office on Friday during a press conference that was dedicated bidding a friendly farewell to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief, Elon Musk.
The 55-year-old mogul was arrested in September and has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and a count of racketeering conspiracy. Combs is being held without bail and his trial is underway in Manhattan.
Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, has been the star witness of the trial and testified that he beat her and forced her to have sex marathons with male escorts that lasted for days.
And this week, Combs’ ex-assistant under the alias of ‘Mia’ accused him of sexually assaulting her repeatedly for eight years.
Trump, 78, and Diddy were both stars on Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, and the president once said that he ‘a good friend of mine, he’s a good guy’, and, ‘I love Diddy.’
But Trump indicated that the relationship took a sour turn as he entered politics.
‘I haven’t seen him, I haven’t spoken to him in years,’ Trump said.
‘He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics… that relationship busted up, from what I read. I don’t know — he didn’t tell me that, but I’d read some little bit nasty statements.’
Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for a high number of people during his second term, including issuing 17 pardons and nine prison commutations on Wednesday alone.
