The Diddy pardon conversation is back inside Trump’s White House, and this time, it is sitting next to a much bigger clemency push. CBS News reports that Trump is poised to pardon a group of people convicted of emissions and clean air-related violations while privately discussing other possible clemency moves involving Sean “Diddy” Combs and several other well-known figures. According to the outlet, Diddy was not expected to appear on the formal recommendations list from the pardons team, which was expected to focus on Clean Air Act cases, but Trump had been privately discussing whether to grant requests that include Diddy.
That is where the story picks up its tension. Diddy is currently serving a sentence of just over four years at the federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey, after his 2025 conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of the more serious sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, a split verdict that kept him from facing the harshest possible outcome in the case.
Trump had not committed Friday morning to how many people would receive clemency. A White House official put the decision-making power squarely on the president, telling CBS News, “Trump is the ultimate decider on any clemency-related actions.”
Still, this is not the first time Trump has been asked about a possible pardon for Diddy. In May 2025, while Combs was still on trial, Trump told reporters no one had formally asked him for a pardon at that point. “Nobody’s asked. You had to be the one to ask, Peter,” Trump said, adding, “I think some people have been very close to asking.”
During that same stretch, Trump also suggested he would not automatically shut the door. “I would certainly look at the facts,” he said at an Oval Office press conference. “If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me.”
By October 2025, the conversation had shifted. After Diddy was sentenced, Trump told reporters that Diddy had reached out for clemency. “A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” Trump said. “I call him Puff Daddy, [he] has asked me for a pardon.”
Then came the January walk-back. Trump told The New York Times that Diddy had “asked me for a pardon,” and that the request came “through a letter.” He also said the rapper’s past criticism of him made a pardon “more difficult to do.” At the time, Trump said he was not considering the request.
Now, the topic has returned to private discussion, even as the public-facing clemency list appears centered on pollution-related cases. That list follows Trump’s earlier pardon of Wyoming mechanic Troy Lake, who served seven months in prison for violating federal emissions laws after disabling air pollution-control equipment on diesel engines. Stewart Cables, an attorney working on other clemency cases, told CBS, “We think this type of case is an example of government overreach.” He added, “That’s why we are trying to get these pardons.”
The clean air angle matters because it shows how wide Trump’s clemency lane has become. The Justice Department previously ordered federal prosecutors to drop remaining prosecutions and investigations tied to alleged “defeat devices,” which are used to tamper with pollution controls on diesel vehicles. Todd Blanche, then the deputy attorney general, said the move was made “to ensure consistent and fair prosecution under the law, as well as to ensure the best use of Department resources.”
Diddy is not the only celebrity-adjacent name in the mix. Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of The Fugees has been seeking a pardon while serving a 14-year sentence tied to foreign lobbying conspiracy charges involving Malaysian financier Jho Low. Low, who is accused by the U.S. of embezzling $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, is also seeking a pardon, according to CBS sources. Trump had not decided whether Michel or Low would receive clemency.
For Combs, the situation is simple but loaded: there is no confirmed pardon, no official placement on Friday’s recommendation list, and no public commitment from Trump. What exists is a private discussion, a written request, and a president who has already moved from “look at the facts” to “not considering” to reportedly weighing the matter again. In a clemency cycle already drawing major scrutiny, that alone is enough to put Diddy’s name back in the center of the conversation.
