Trump pardons rapper NBA Youngboy, who was sentenced for gun-related charges
Louisiana rap artist NBA YoungBoy, who was sentenced to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges, was pardoned by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The rapper is among a number of high-profile people Trump pardoned this week, including a former New York congressman, a labor union leader and a reality TV star couple.
'I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,' NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, said in a statement posted online.
Gaulden's pardon was confirmed Wednesday evening by two White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail actions that had not yet been formally made public.
In 2024, Gaulden was sentenced by a federal judge in Utah after he acknowledged possessing weapons despite being a convicted felon. He reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him — one carried a 23-month sentence and the other ordered five years of probation and a $200,000 fine.
Gaulden was released from federal prison in March and sent to home confinement after receiving credit for time served, according to his attorney Drew Findling. With home confinement finished last month, the pardon means he won't have to follow the terms of his probation, including drug testing, he said.
Findling said he was thrilled Gaulden's legal saga had reached an end.
'From Louisiana to Utah the battles have been endless, and now he can concentrate on first and foremost his family, and then, of course, his amazing career,' Findling said in a statement.
The rapper has acknowledged that he possessed a Glock 21 .45-caliber pistol and a Masterpiece Arms MPA30T 9mm handgun while filming a rap video in Baton Rouge. He has also said he had a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol at his home in Huntsville, Utah. He had agreed to give up the guns.
Gaulden had previously been convicted in Louisiana of aggravated assault with a firearm, according to his statement released in advance of the plea agreement.
He had also pleaded guilty in November to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring that operated out of his home in Utah. He had to pay a $25,000 fine and was given no prison time.
The rapper, whose stage moniker stands for 'Never Broke Again,' is preparing to set out on a major U.S. tour in September.
He has achieved four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and one Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. His music includes '38 Baby,' 'Outside Today' and Tyler, The Creator's song, 'Wusyaname,' on which he is featured with Ty Dolla $ign. That collaboration earned them a Grammy nomination in 2022 for Best Melodic Rap Performance.
___
Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China
US President Donald Trump signaled renewed trade tensions with China on Friday, arguing that Beijing had "violated" a deal to de-escalate tariffs, at a time when both sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations. Trump's post on his Truth Social platform came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with China were "a bit stalled," in an interview with broadcaster Fox News. The world's two biggest economies had agreed this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days, after talks between top officials in Geneva. But on Friday, Trump wrote that: "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," without providing further details. Asked about the post on CNBC, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer took aim at Beijing for continuing to "slow down and choke off things like critical minerals." He added that the United States' trade deficit with China "continues to be enormous," and that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing's behavior. On Thursday, Bessent had suggested that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved in the situation. He said there could be a call between both leaders eventually. Since Trump returned to the presidency in January, he has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners, with especially high rates on imports from China. New tit-for-tat levies from both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation earlier this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce its additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent. China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125 percent to 10 percent. The US tariff level remains higher as it also includes a 20 percent levy that the Trump administration recently imposed on Chinese goods over the country's alleged role in the illicit drug trade -- an issue that Beijing has pushed back against. The high tariff levels, while they were still in place, forced much trade between both countries to grind to a halt, as businesses paused shipments to try and wait for both governments to reach an agreement to lower the levies. Trump's tariff plans are also facing legal challenges. A trade court ruled this week that the president overstepped his authority in tapping emergency economic powers to justify sweeping tariffs. It blocked the most wide-ranging levies since Trump returned to office, although this ruling has since been put on hold for now as an appeals process is ongoing. The ruling left intact, however, tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on sector-specific imports such as steel and autos. bys/st
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Needs to Get Real on Trade
U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during a tariff announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Credit - Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images The roller coaster that is President Donald Trump's trade war steamed ahead this week. On Wednesday, a federal district court dealt a major blow to Trump when it ruled that his sweeping global tariffs were illegal. On Thursday, an appeals court ruled the levies could remain in place for now. And then, on Friday, Trump accused China of violating a preliminary trade deal and suggested he would respond. As all this unfolds and the U.S. legal system lumbers toward a final verdict, one thing is clear: the White House needs to get a real trade strategy, and fast. Read More: The Five Small Businesses That Helped Block Trump's Tariffs Few issues are more fundamental to Trump's worldview than trade. For Trump, trade is not merely an economic issue, but a litmus test of whether America is winning or losing on the world stage. Even matters of war and peace, such as Taiwan and the South China Sea, have seemingly taken a back seat to Trump's stubborn fixation on China's trade surplus with the U.S. During his first term, Trump launched a trade war against China with a goal, as he framed it, of punishing China's unfair trade practices. The trade war ended with a Phase-one deal wherein China promised to increase its future purchases of American products and enact structural reforms. Ultimately, this deal failed to deliver. The Chinese underperformed on their pledges. Trump blamed the Biden Administration for not enforcing the deal. Unbowed by the disappointment of his first trade war with China, Trump launched a second one when he returned to office earlier this year. This time, he surrounded himself with loyalists who supported his instincts for public confrontation and rapid escalation to force China to the negotiating table. Trump's approach appeared to be built on an assumption that China's economy was brittle, and Beijing would buckle under pressure. Read More: Why Trump Will Blink First on China That bet backfired. China retaliated with counter-tariffs. Beijing also implemented novel new export controls on critical minerals and magnets upon which U.S. industries depend. Chinese policymakers moved swiftly to shore up China's economy while expanding trade ties with other partners. Rather than fold, China punched back. As the economic costs of the trade war mounted on both sides of the Pacific, Trump designated his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to negotiate a 90-day truce. The Chinese accepted. Trump's trade war with China is not over. It is merely paused. Trump will continue returning to the well of grievance about America's trade imbalance with China until he can secure a deal that he can sell as a win to the American public. But therein lies the rub. Based on my recent exchanges with Chinese officials and experts, it seems Beijing has taken America's measure in recent weeks and concluded that China has greater capacity to withstand economic pain than the U.S. China's leaders lack confidence that any agreement with the mercurial Trump will last. At a more fundamental level, China's leaders are unclear on what specifically Trump seeks—and what he would offer in return. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Bessent said that U.S.-China talks were 'a bit stalled' and suggested Trump and Xi Jinping 'have a call.' But until the Trump Administration can articulate its concrete objectives, its strategy for achieving them, and its vision of a productive process for doing so, the U.S.-China trade war will stay stalemated. Read More: It's Time for Trump and Xi to Meet To be clear, the Trump Administration has legitimate grievances about China's unfair economic practices. China's market access barriers, forced technology transfers, and state-directed subsidies to preferred industries and businesses have created massive global trade distortions. But grievance is not a strategy. And daily improvisation is not a formula for progress in negotiations. The 90-day trade truce gives the Trump Administration time and space to do its homework. That means discarding the failed assumptions that Xi will cave under pressure and instead doing the hard work of homing in on what specifically Trump is aiming to achieve and what he is prepared to give in return. In the end, trade policy is not about scoring points or undermining competitors. It is about making America stronger, safer, and more prosperous. If Trump wants to succeed, he will need to move beyond theatrics and prepare for the grinding process of negotiating with China that awaits. Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says China violated agreement with U.S.
-- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of breaking a recent trade agreement, only a few weeks after the two nations announced a temporary truce aimed at de-escalating tensions. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: 'China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.' He added: 'So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' Trump said the deal had been struck to prevent further economic deterioration in China after his administration's tariffs took effect. 'We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them,' he said in the post. 'I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn't want to see that happen.' 'Everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual.' However, he claims China has now violated the agreement. Earlier this month, the U.S. and China agreed to reduce or suspend several tariffs, with the U.S. lowering duties on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% and China cutting its retaliatory tariffs from 125% to 10%. The agreement also included a 90-day suspension of additional tariffs through May 14. However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Thursday that trade talks had become 'a bit stalled' and may require further involvement from national leaders. He added that he expects more talks in the coming weeks and did not rule out a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Related articles Trump says China violated agreement with U.S. Canada March GDP rises 0.1%; Q1 growth steady at 0.5% China to allocate $70 billion in capital for new infrastructure projects
