Trump Pardons Former Honduran President Hernández

President Donald Trump announced Friday from West Palm Beach, Florida, that he will issue a full pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving a 45-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison for drug trafficking and weapons-related convictions. The decision, shared on social media, comes just days before Honduras holds its presidential election on Sunday, in which Trump has publicly endorsed candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura.

Hernández, who led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was extradited to the United States in 2020 and convicted in March 2023 in a New York federal court of conspiring to import more than 400 tons of cocaine into the country, along with firearms offenses. Prosecutors described him as operating Honduras as a "narcostate," alleging he accepted millions in bribes from drug cartels, including Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, to protect traffickers and influence police and military actions. His brother, Tony Hernández, is serving a life sentence for related crimes. Hernández, a member of the conservative National Party like Asfura, has been appealing his conviction while incarcerated at the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia.