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Sean "Diddy" Combs submitted a formal request for a presidential pardon to Donald Trump, but the former president has no plans to grant it, Trump said in a recent interview with The New York Times. The revelation marks the first confirmed acknowledgment that Combs personally sought clemency through an official letter.
According to the Times, Trump disclosed the request during a wide-ranging, two-hour interview published Thursday. While speculation about a pardon appeal had circulated for months, the report confirmed that Combs, 56, did indeed submit the request in writing. Trump told reporters that Combs "asked me for a pardon" and that the request came via letter, though he emphasized he is "not considering" granting it.
Combs is currently serving a 50-month federal prison sentence stemming from prostitution-related charges, a case that has drawn intense scrutiny and public backlash. Despite the controversy surrounding Combs' conviction, the pardon request itself was not entirely unexpected, given Trump's history of issuing controversial clemency decisions. These include pardons for individuals convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack, as well as former Honduran president Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to decades in prison on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Trump and Combs were acquainted prior to Trump's entry into presidential politics, though their relationship later deteriorated. In a 2025 interview with Newsmax, Trump said he once found Combs personable, describing him as "a nice guy," but claimed their rapport shifted once Trump launched his political career.
"I was very friendly with him," Trump said at the time. "But when I ran for office, he was very hostile."
Trump echoed those sentiments during comments made in the Oval Office last October, stating that Combs' past criticism of him complicated any consideration of clemency. "When someone was fine with you and then becomes very hostile, it makes it more difficult," he said.
During Trump's unsuccessful 2020 reelection campaign, Combs publicly called for his removal from office and issued sharp criticism, saying "white men like Trump need to be banished."
While Trump did not provide further details about the letter or its contents, his remarks appear to close the door, at least for now, on Combs' hopes for presidential relief.