Trump Pardons Ex-Honduras President Hernández, Walks Free After Drug Conviction

Juan Orlando Hernández, former president of Honduras, is now out of a US prison after getting a full pardon from Donald Trump. His name quietly disappeared from the federal inmate list on Monday, showing he’d been released from USP Hazelton in West Virginia.

Hernández was convicted back in March 2024 for running a massive cocaine operation into the US and for possessing machine guns. He got 45 years. But Trump stepped in, saying he’d been “treated very harshly and unfairly,” and wiped the charges.

His wife, Ana García, took to social media on Tuesday to thank Trump and announce that her husband is officially a free man.

Hernández, who ruled Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was extradited to the US two years ago over accusations that he basically turned the country into a narco-state. Prosecutors said he took millions in drug money to protect traffickers. He was also ordered to pay an $8 million fine.

Speaking on Air Force One, Trump claimed the whole case against Hernández was a “Biden administration setup,” insisting they targeted him simply because he was president of Honduras.

His release comes at a tense moment for Honduras. The country is basically in a dead heat over its next president only 515 votes separate right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura from rival Salvador Nasralla.

Trump didn’t hide his opinions either: he called Nasralla “a borderline Communist” and praised Asfura for “standing up for democracy” and pushing back against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro someone Trump has clashed with repeatedly.

Nasralla, for his part, says he’ll cut ties with Venezuela if elected.

Meanwhile, the US has accused Maduro of leading a drug cartel and has used those claims to justify military moves in the Caribbean, including strikes on suspected smuggling boats — though some analysts say it’s all political pressure.

Honduras is currently led by President Xiomara Castro, who has aligned herself closely with Cuba and Venezuela.