President Donald Trump has officially pardoned Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández. The former president was serving time in a federal prison in the United States for drug trafficking charges. Hernández was facing a 45-year prison sentence before President Trump’s full and complete pardon. Here’s what we know about the reason for the pardon and the timing.

President Donald Trump just pardoned a convicted drug trafficker

Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández is a free man again after President Donald Trump gave him a pardon. Hernández’s pardon is facing backlash from elected officials from both parties. Authorities convicted the ex-president of accepting bribes from drug traffickers while he served in office in Honduras. The bribes made it easier for traffickers to take drugs from northern Honduras to the United States. Investigators link Hernández to 400 tons of cocaine trafficked out of Honduras and into the U.S.

Hernández was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. The U.S. government accused Hernández of involvement in the most violent drug-trafficking conspiracy. He was extradited to the United States in April 2022 to stand trial on charges of conspiracy to smuggle drugs to the U.S. The trial, which started in March 2024, ended with the jury finding Hernández guilty of three drug trafficking charges. A judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison and imposed an $8 million fine.

At the time, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement condemning Hernández’s behavior as president. The statement claims that Hernández “abused his position as president of Honduras to operate the country as a narco-state where violent drug traffickers were allowed to operate with virtual impunity, and the people of Honduras and the United States were forced to suffer the consequences.”

The pardon comes at the same time as U.S.-led drone strikes on boats in the Caribbean

Recently, Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came under scrutiny for a recent drone strike. It was reported that Sec. Hegseth ordered a second strike on a vessel that had survivors from a previous strike. The attack is raising questions of war crimes since the second attack on the same vessel allegedly breaks international law.

The Washington Post was the first to report on the follow-up attack.

“The order was to kill everybody,” a source close to the operation told The Washington Post.

Sec. Hegseth is claiming that the media is attacking him unfairly, a common tactic from people in the Trump administration. Top-ranking military officials have come forward to call out the potential legality surrounding the strikes.

Since the news broke, Sec. Hegseth, with the White House’s help, has been desperately trying to distance himself from the potential war crime. In an attempt to protect Sec. Hegseth, President Trump, and his allies are pinning the blame for the strike on Admiral Frank M. Bradley. Admr. Bradley is currently serving as commander of the United States Special Operations Command. He took on the position in October 2025.

Hernández’s pardon comes at a time when the federal government is trying to project an anti-drug trafficking campaign. Pardoning Juan Orlando Hernández seems counter to this perceived “show of strength” in the Caribbean targeting alleged drug-trafficking boats. Elected officials are calling out the hypocrisy in the two actions happening so close together.

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