Donald Trump says Diddy was ‘hostile' toward him; says rapper's team asked for a pardon but he likely won't grant it

Indian Express

5 days ago

Donald Trump likely won't pardon Sean 'Diddy' Combs, and it might have less to do with the charges the rapper faces and more with a friendship that didn't survive Trump's first term as POTUS. In a recent conversation with Newsmax's Rob Finnerty, the POTUS talked about plans to release the Epstein files and hinted that a pardon for the disgraced music mogul, who's awaiting his October sentencing, isn't looking likely.
Trump, while speaking about the possibility of granting clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate, said no one has actually asked him to do it. He added that even though he's allowed to, he isn't fully aware of the case. The host then pressed him about offering the same to Bad Boy Records founder, who's currently locked inside Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Centre, especially since Trump had previously floated the idea of a pardon.
Also read: Donald Trump risks losing more women voters if he pardons Diddy, can spark 'another Epstein-like situation'
The Republican leader called the outcome of Diddy's trial 'sort of half innocent' and admitted he's still undecided. He confirmed that Diddy's lawyer has reached out to him about a possible pardon. This comes after the July verdict, where the music mogul was convicted on two prostitution-related charges but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering. And while he dodged the more serious accusations, Judge Arun Subramanian denied him bail, and prosecutors believe that if sentenced, he could be facing a minimum of 20 years in jail. Speaking about their personal history, Trump said they used to get along 'very well' and even called Diddy 'a nice guy,' but admitted that things broke down once he ran for office.
'Probably, you know, I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn't know him well, but when I ran for office, he was very hostile,' Donald Trump said. He added that this kind of thing does affect how decisions are made. 'It's hard, you know, like, we're human beings, and 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.' When the interviewer asked him again if he was probably not going to pardon Combs, Trump replied: 'I would say so.'
Also read: Trump says nobody has asked him to grant clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell
In the latter part of the interview, Trump, who's been facing criticism from inside his own MAGA circle for holding back controversial details about Jeffrey Epstein, told Finnerty he's all in for making the Epstein records public, but only if it doesn't hurt innocent people. 'I want to release everything,' Trump said. 'I just don't want people to get hurt.' The comment came just a week after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell for nearly nine hours at a Florida jail, after which she was moved to a minimum-security facility in Texas. Trump said he wasn't directly involved in the interview and doesn't know if that transcript will ever see the light of day.