Trump opens door to pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs asked for one

US president’s comments follows music mogul’s four-year sentence and the Supreme Court’s rejection of Maxwell’s sex-trafficking appeal

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Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. File photo: SDNY via TNS

Published: 7:43am, 7 Oct 2025Updated: 9:15am, 7 Oct 2025

US President Donald Trump on Monday left the door open to a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of helping the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

Trump also said that Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was sentenced on Friday to more than four years in prison over his conviction on prostitution-related charges, had requested a pardon.

On the same day that the US Supreme Court declined to hear Maxwell’s bid to overturn her conviction, Trump, when asked whether he would set Maxwell free himself through a pardon, said he would speak to the Department of Justice.

“I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look,” he said. “I will speak to the DOJ.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs during his sentencing hearing on Friday. Image: Jane Rosenberg via Reuters

The Epstein case has dogged Trump and his Justice Department for months, creating upset among Trump’s Make America Great Again political base, which has been unusually critical of the administration for not releasing more information about Epstein’s crimes and alleged associates.

Trump and Epstein were friends but had a falling out. Epstein died in a Manhattan prison cell in 2019.

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