PRESIDENT TRUMP DECLINES PARDON FOR DIDDY AFTER RECEIVING CLEMENCY REQUEST

President Donald Trump has said he has no plans to grant clemency to imprisoned music executive Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, despite an alleged personal appeal from the mogul.

The topic arose during a two-hour conversation with New York Times journalists on January 7. When presented with a list of high-profile incarcerated individuals, Trump confirmed that Combs, 56, had sought a pardon through a letter. The president, 79, offered to show the letter but did not produce it during the interview.

Last October, he first revealed in an Oval Office briefing that Combs had submitted a pardon request. A White House representative later dismissed speculation about an imminent commutation, stating there was “zero truth” to such reports and reiterating that “the president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider.”

In an August interview with Newsmax, he recalled that Combs became “very hostile” after he entered political office. “I was very friendly with him… but when I ran for office he was very hostile,” Trump told host Rob Finnerty. When pressed on whether this made a pardon unlikely, Trump replied, “I’d say so.”

Combs is currently serving a 50-month sentence in New Jersey following his conviction last July.  After a lengthy trial, a jury found him guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution related to testimonies from former girlfriend Cassie Ventura and another woman. He was acquitted on more severe charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Combs is appealing both the conviction and sentence.

The history between the two figures includes a more cordial chapter; two decades ago, in 2005, Donald and Melania Trump presented Combs with a philanthropic award at Mar-a-Lago.