President Donald Trump’s latest pardon decision has dropped a political bombshell that’s hard to ignore.
Trump announced on Friday, November 28, 2025, his plan to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is currently serving a 45-year sentence for trafficking massive quantities of cocaine into the United States, while also stirring controversy over potential ties to tech investors linked to the administration.
Let’s rewind to the beginning of this saga.
Hernandez, once the head of state in Honduras, was extradited to the United States on April 21, 2022, straight from Tegucigalpa under the watchful eye of Honduras’ Minister of Security, Ramon Sabillon.
Escorted to a DEA plane, Hernandez was soon convicted in New York in 2024 on serious charges of drug trafficking and weapons violations.
The prosecution started under Trump’s first term, only to wrap up under the Biden administration, which adds a layer of political intrigue to this pardon.
Fast forward to November 28, 2025, when Trump took to TruthSocial to declare that Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly” by the Biden administration, citing opinions from folks he greatly respects.
Two days later, aboard Air Force One on November 30, 2025, Trump doubled down, stating, “Well, I was told — I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras, they said it was a Biden setup.”
While one can sympathize with a desire to correct perceived injustices, it’s tough to square this with Hernandez’s conviction for flooding American streets with drugs—hardly the resume of a misunderstood patriot.
Adding fuel to the fire, Hernandez’s presidency wasn’t just about alleged narco-dealings; he also championed tech-friendly policies like the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs) in Honduras.
Established by a 2013 law, ZEDEs are essentially corporate-run mini-states with their own rules, police, and schools, pitched as engines of economic growth as noted in a 2022 Rest of World report.
One such zone, Próspera, became a magnet for global investors with its low-tax, crypto-friendly vibe—Bitcoin is even an official currency there—backed by heavyweights like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen through Pronomos Capital.
Thiel’s ties to the Trump administration, including support for Vice President J.D. Vance’s Senate campaign in 2022, and Andreessen’s apparent benefits from dropped federal probes post-election, make this pardon smell like more than just a random act of mercy.
Meanwhile, Próspera remains in a legal tussle with the Honduran government, which repealed the ZEDE law in April 2022 amid public outcry, though the project stubbornly persists.
One has to wonder if this pardon is less about Hernandez and more about rewarding ideological allies who dream of deregulated utopias—ironic, given the very real damage of drug trafficking on American communities.
Trump’s pardon of Hernandez isn’t an isolated move; he also recently freed crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who admitted to enabling money laundering under Biden’s Department of Justice.
While some might cheer these acts as a middle finger to overreaching federal power, others see a pattern of favoring the well-connected over the everyday folks hurt by these crimes.
Navigating justice shouldn’t mean ignoring convictions, especially when the evidence against figures like Hernandez is as weighty as the cocaine he’s accused of shipping—pardon or not, the irony of championing law and order while excusing lawbreakers isn’t lost on anyone.
