Trump Rejects Sean Combs Pardon Request

President Donald Trump has no plans to grant a pardon to Sean "Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop mogul serving a 50-month prison sentence for federal prostitution-related offenses, despite receiving a personal letter from Combs requesting clemency.

In an interview published Thursday with The New York Times, Trump confirmed that Combs, 56, had written him a handwritten letter seeking a pardon. "Diddy asked me for a pardon, through a letter," Trump said, adding that he was not inclined to approve the request. The interview, conducted Wednesday, marked the first public confirmation of the letter's existence, though Trump had previously alluded to Combs' outreach in October.

Combs was arrested in September 2024 and charged in a federal indictment with racketeering and sex trafficking. Following a trial, a jury acquitted him in July of those most serious counts but convicted him on two lesser charges under the Mann Act: transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution. He was sentenced in October to 50 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who cited extensive evidence of abuse in the case despite the acquittals on the top charges.