Why Did Trump Pardon NBA Youngboy? Here's The Reason Behind the Seemingly Random Move

President Donald Trump is no stranger to shocking headlines. Whether he's throwing the economy into chaos with breathtakingly high tariffs or facing felony charges, big bad headlines are Trump's comfort zone.

However, increasingly since returning to the White House in January 2025 to start his second term in office, those headlines have included eyebrow-raising pardons.

The president always has the ability to issue pardons while in office, so that in and of itself is not unusual. But it's who he's pardoning and how early in his second term that he's exercising the ability that has people surprised. Among those raising eyebrows for pardons is rapper NBA Youngboy. Why did Trump pardon the rapper? Here's what we know about the surprising move.

At the end of May 2025, Trump went on a new and surprising pardon spree. This time, it included Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, a 25-year-old rapper from Baton Rouge, La., known as NBA Youngboy. He has quite the crime rap sheet, including multiple charges for attempted murder, drug and gun offenses, assault, and kidnapping.

And as to his other rap sheet, Gaulden has had a noteworthy career in music, including four songs reaching number one on the Billboard 200 chart, according to Forbes.

Yet being a talented rapper doesn't exactly explain why the Republican president would issue him a pardon.

Unfortunately, we don't really know why Trump pardoned Gaulden, except for a post on Instagram stories made by the rapper thanking the "pardon czar" and adding, "I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist."

But the outlet points out one possible connection: Drew Findling, who is an attorney for Gaulden, briefly represented Trump as he faced a criminal inquiry into election interference in Georgia. Although the attorney told Rolling Stone that he was not the one who submitted the application for a pardon to Trump, Findling did confirm the rapper's pardon.

However, Gaulden's pardon is not the only one raising eyebrows and confusing the public as a whole. Trump's latest clemency spree has included some seriously surprising people, like Chrisley Knows Best stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, previously in prison for up to 10 years for fraud (per USA Today).

Also included in the newest pardon spree is a man whose mother recently attended a Trump fundraiser that required a $1 million entrance ticket, which has raised some alarm bells among watchdog groups.

The Hill reports that Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes, was pardoned by Trump after his mother, Elizabeth Fago, cited her support of Trump and other Republican causes in the application for a pardon.

Presidents have somewhat of a carte blanche when it comes to issuing pardons during their term in office, but the number of bizarre and seemingly politically-motivated pardons that Trump is issuing are adding to the concerns that Trump is profiting illegally from his time in office.