Key Takeaway: Senior White House aides, including Susie Wiles, say they were blindsided when President Trump quickly pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández had been convicted and sentenced to 45 years for conspiring to smuggle roughly 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Trump defended the pardon as a response to requests from Hondurans and claimed the prosecution was politically motivated, while admitting he knew "very little" about Hernández.
Susie Wiles and White House Caught Off Guard as Trump Rapidly Pardons Ex‑Honduran President
Tom Brenner/AFP via Getty Images
Senior White House officials, including longtime Trump aide Susie Wiles, said they were not notified before President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
Wiles, 68, a powerful figure in Trump’s circle often nicknamed the “Ice Maiden,” learned of the pardon only after the president announced it. Former adviser Roger Stone — who had lobbied for Hernández’s clemency after reviewing the case — also told associates he was surprised by the speed of the decision. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Juan Orlando Hernández served two terms as president of Honduras. / Getty Images
Hernández, 57, was sentenced last year to 45 years in prison after his conviction for conspiring with heavily armed drug traffickers to smuggle roughly 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. U.S. authorities had investigated Hernández since 2013; he was extradited in 2022 and later convicted during the administration of President Joe Biden.
At a 2021 trial, a witness testified that Hernández said,
"We are going to stuff the drugs up the gringos' noses, and they're never even going to know it."
President Donald Trump announced the pardon in a Truth Social post. / Donald Trump on Truth Social
In November, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was issuing “a Full and Complete Pardon” for Hernández, saying the former Honduran leader had been "treated very harshly and unfairly." Trump has defended the move as the result of pleas from Honduran contacts who argued the prosecution was politically motivated and called it a "Biden setup."
When pressed by reporters to provide evidence that Hernández had been framed, Trump argued that prosecuting a president of another country raises complex issues and that accusations alone do not always justify lifelong imprisonment. He later acknowledged he knew "very little" about Hernández and said he acted after being told by several people — including Honduran supporters — that Hernández had been treated unfairly.
Why This Matters
The pardon has sparked immediate questions about the decision-making process inside the administration and about the merits of overturning a conviction tied to a decades-long U.S. narcotics investigation. It also underscores how swiftly and publicly presidential clemency can be exercised, even when senior aides and outside advisers say they were not prepared for the move.
