Trump said he does not intend to pardon Sam Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud tied to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

In an interview with the New York Times, the President linked that position to a broader refusal to intervene in a series of other high-profile cases, including those involving Sean “Diddy” Combs and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Trump’s comments land at a sensitive moment for Bankman-Fried, who has tried to reshape his public image with a media tour that emphasized Republican-friendly themes.

The effort has not translated into direct influence at the White House, even though Trump has cast himself as a supporter of the digital asset industry and has launched his own crypto ventures.

Selective with Crypto Clemency

Trump’s decision not to help Bankman-Fried stands in contrast with his past use of clemency in the crypto ecosystem. The president has already pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and the co-founders of derivatives platform BitMEX, intervening in cases that many in the industry followed closely.

• Sam Bankman-Fried Could Be Released from Prison Four Years Earlier
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• Sam Bankman-Fried Is Set for Prison Transfer amid Appeal Preparations

Those moves built an image of a president willing to challenge parts of the U.S. enforcement stance on digital assets. The refusal to extend the same treatment to Bankman-Fried hints at a distinction between figures Trump views as innovators caught in regulatory crossfire and those tied to large-scale fraud against customers.

Even within crypto, that difference matters: it signals that some high-profile defendants will remain politically toxic, despite broader overtures to the sector.

SBF Clemency Bid Fails in Washington

Bankman-Fried’s legal and personal network has not shifted the calculus in Washington. His parents, former Stanford Law School professors Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, reportedly engaged lawyers and other figures connected to Trump’s orbit as they explored a possible path to clemency.

Read more: Sam Bankman-Fried Could Be Released from Prison Four Years Earlier

Trump used the interview to sketch a broader framework for his pardons. Alongside Bankman-Fried and Combs, he said he does not intend to extend clemency to former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez or to Nicolás Maduro, who faces U.S. narco-terrorism charges after his recent capture.

The president has shown a very different approach in other international cases. He recently pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández for importing cocaine into the United States, a decision that Bankman-Fried has publicly praised on X.