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TRUMP PARDONS DRUG KINGPINS EVEN AS HE ESCALATES U.S. DRUG WAR
RHETORIC  
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Brian Mann
May 31, 2025
NPR
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_ Trump's clemency for Hoover and other drug offenders follows a
pattern that began during his first term in the White House. Trump
pardoned or commuted the sentences of at least 13 people convicted of
federal drug crimes between 2017 and 2021. _

President Trump promised to free Ross Ulbricht, a former tech
entrepreneur incarcerated for creating a dark web site called Silk
Road that was used by drug traffickers. "If you vote for me, on day
one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht,", Chip
Somodevilla/Getty Images

 

President Trump has long called for escalating the U.S. drug war
against Mexican cartels and wants tougher penalties for dealers
selling fentanyl and other street drugs in American communities. "I am
ready for it, the death penalty, if you deal drugs," Trump said during
a meeting with state governors in February, where he said dealers are
too often treated with a "slap on the wrist."
But despite his tough rhetoric, Trump has sparked controversy by
pardoning a growing number of convicted drug dealers, including this
week's move to grant clemency to Larry Hoover, 74, who was serving
multiple life sentences in federal prison for crimes linked to his
role leading the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples.

Already during the early months of his second term, Trump has granted
clemency to at least eight individuals convicted on federal drug
charges. Some, including Hoover, have extensive criminal records
involving violence
[[link removed](Approved).pdf] and
gun charges.

"There's a lot of mixed messages and mixed signals [from the White
House] which creates sort of chaos and uncertainty," said Jeffrey
Singer, a drug policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian
think-tank. "On the one hand you're threatening even tougher penalties
on people who deal in drugs, while on the other hand you're releasing
drug dealers from prisons."

The case of Larry Hoover and the Gangster Disciples

Ron Safer, a former U.S. attorney in Chicago who helped prosecute
members of the Gangster Disciples during the 1990s, said he was
shocked and dismayed by Trump's decision to commute Hoover's sentence.

He pointed out that Hoover's gang was one of the largest and most
violent drug syndicates in the U.S., operating in 35 states according
to the U.S Justice Department
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Hoover himself was convicted of state and federal charges including
murder and use of a firearm while trafficking drugs.

"Larry Hoover was the head of perhaps the most pernicious, efficient
drug operation in the United States," Safer said. "They sold over $100
million of drugs a year in the city of Chicago alone. They were
responsible for countless murders. They supported their drug
territories with ruthless violence."

Hoover was first incarcerated in 1973 after being convicted of murder.
In the 1990s, he was convicted of federal charges linked to his role
directing the Gangster Disciples.

Hoover is now expected to be transferred from a federal supermax
prison to a state correctional facility in Illinois, where he'll
remain behind bars, for now, because of the state-level murder
conviction. Hoover has sought clemency from Illinois officials before,
though his latest bid for parole was rejected overwhelmingly by a
state review board in December 2022
[[link removed](Approved).pdf].

But a White House spokesman, commenting on background because he
wasn't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR the Trump administration
expects Illinois officials to follow the federal government's lead by
freeing Hoover.

"There have been many advocates saying the time served in prison was
adequate," the spokesman said.

Amid calls for tough punishments, clemency for high-level drug
traffickers

Trump's clemency for Hoover and other drug offenders follows a pattern
that began during his first term in the White House. While promising
tough action against drug dealers, Trump pardoned or commuted the
sentences of at least 13 people convicted of federal drug crimes 
[[link removed]]between
2017 and 2021, including high-level dealers linked to violence or
convicted of operating major trafficking rings.

In 2020, Trump's administration also freed a senior Mexican military
official
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by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles on charges
he helped cartels traffic drugs into the U.S. Under pressure from
Mexico's government, officials in Trump's Justice Department dropped
prosecution of General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda.

In the first month of his second term, Trump also pardoned Ross
Ulbricht, a former tech entrepreneur serving a life term in federal
prison [[link removed]] for
creating Silk Road, a dark web internet site that became a major
conduit for drug traffickers.

"Ulbricht also demonstrated a willingness to use violence to protect
his criminal enterprise and the anonymity of its users, soliciting six
murders-for-hire in connection with operating the site, although there
is no evidence that these murders were actually carried out," federal
prosecutors said in a statement
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Ulbricht was sentenced in 2015.

Commenting on background, the White House spokesman said there is no
contradiction between Trump's tough-on-dealers rhetoric and his
decisions to free some individuals involved in drug trafficking.

"The punishment does not always fit the crime," the spokesman said.
"The president is open to seeing if these people are worthy of
redemption."

Some critics of the U.S. drug war offered cautious praise of Trump's
use of presidential authority to free drug offenders.

"President Trump's potential decision to grant clemency to people with
drug convictions offers a crucial lifeline to those affected and
affirms what communities have long known: Criminalization of drugs is
ineffective and harmful," said Kassandra Frederique, head of the Drug
Policy Alliance, in a statement sent to NPR.

But Frederique is critical of Trump's wider stance on drug policy.
"These individual acts of clemency starkly contrast with the
administration's broader tough-on-crime rhetoric and its ongoing
efforts to dismantle lifesaving health services," Frederique said.

Some view Trump's pardons as "transactional"

During his final days in office, President Joe Biden pardoned
thousands of offenders
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many of them incarcerated on federal drug charges. Biden said the move
reflected his growing unease with the drug war.

"This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs,
correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals
the opportunity to return to their families and communities after
spending far too much time behind bars," Biden said.

Drug policy experts interviewed by NPR said it's difficult to find a
coherent philosophy behind Trump's use of clemency. According to the
Cato Institute's Singer, Trump's pardons often appear "transactional"
and often reflect the influence of powerful individuals.

"He actually promised in front of the Libertarian Party convention
that if he was elected he would pardon Ross Ulbricht. That was a
promise he made hoping to get support from Libertarians," Singer said.
"It's not like there's an ideological thread running through
decisions."

During that campaign appearance in 2024, Trump openly linked his plan
to commute Ulbricht's sentence to his bid for the White House. "If you
vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht
to a sentence of time served," Trump said, sparking applause from
Ulbricht's supporters
[[link removed]].

The release of Larry Hoover, meanwhile, was championed by the artist
Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — who thanked Trump this week on
the social media platform X. "WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR
DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER," Ye
wrote [[link removed]].

During his first term, Trump pardoned and freed Alice Marie Johnson
after the reality TV star Kim Kardashian called for her release
[[link removed]].
Johnson was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life behind bars for
her nonviolent role as part of a Memphis, Tenn., cocaine trafficking
ring. Earlier this year, Trump appointed her to serve as his "pardon
czar."
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In a social media post, Johnson, too, praised the president's latest
round of pardons.

"Today 26 deserving individuals were granted clemencies and pardons.
Each one represents a story of redemption, rehabilitation, and
resilience," Johnson said on the platform X
[[link removed]]. "Their
second chance is a second shot at life."

_BRIAN MANN is NPR's first national addiction correspondent. He also
covers breaking news in the U.S. and around the world._

_Mann began covering drug policy and the opioid crisis as part of a
partnership between NPR and North Country Public Radio in New York.
After joining NPR full time in 2020, Mann was one of the first
national journalists to track the deadly spread of the synthetic
opioid fentanyl, reporting from California and Washington state to
West Virginia._

_After losing his father and stepbrother to substance abuse, Mann's
reporting breaks down the stigma surrounding addiction and creates a
factual basis for the ongoing national discussion._

_Mann has also served on NPR teams covering the Beijing Winter
Olympics and the war in Ukraine._

_During a career in public radio that began in the 1980s, Mann has won
numerous regional and national Edward R. Murrow awards. He is author
of a 2006 book about small town politics called Welcome to the
Homeland
[[link removed]], described
by The Atlantic as "one of the best books to date on the
putative-red-blue divide."_

_Mann grew up in Alaska and is now based in New York's Adirondack
Mountains. His audio postcards, broadcast on NPR, describe his
backcountry trips into wild places around the world._

_NPR is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded
on a mission to create a more informed public. Every day, NPR connects
with millions of Americans on the air, online, and in person to
explore the news, ideas, and what it means to be human. Through its
network of member stations, NPR makes local stories national, national
stories local, and global stories personal._

_The mission of NPR is to collaborate with Member Stations to
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interconnection for the entire public radio system._

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