Is Trump interfering in Honduran elections? Ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez pardoned, Tito Asfura receives BIG backing

US President Donald Trump on Friday (Nov 28) threatened to cut US funding for Honduras if his preferred candidate, Nasry “Tito” Asfura, loses in the upcoming presidential elections. He also pardoned a convicted former president, Juan Orlando Hernandez. The major intervention in the country’s politics came days ahead of the elections, which are set to take place on Sunday.

“If Tito Asfura wins for President of Honduras, because the United States has so much confidence in him, his Policies, and what he will do for the Great People of Honduras, we will be very supportive,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is.”

He continued to praise Asfura, saying that he “will be a Great President, and the United States will work closely with him in order to ensure the success, with all of its potential, of Honduras!”

Trump also announced granting a pardon to Hernandez. He said, “Additionally, I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly.” Hernandez was convicted of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison by a US court last year.

The US president further stated, “This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success. VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!”

Asfura, 67, the former mayor of the Honduran capital and construction magnate, is running in a tight race against a leftist lawyer and a fellow right-wing TV host in the Sunday election.

What was Hernandez convicted of?

Former president Hernandez served two terms from 2014 to 2022, before being extradited to the US weeks after leaving office. In March 2024, a jury in New York convicted him of facilitating the smuggling of tons of cocaine, primarily from Venezuela and Colombia, to the United States through his country since 2004.

Following his sentencing last year, Biden’s attorney general Merrick Garland said that Hernandez had “abused his power to support one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.” On the other hand, Trump has claimed that Hernandez was treated “very harshly and unfairly.”