Trump Allegedly Just Pardoned the Guy Who Rolled a Fake Truck Down a Hill (After Donating $2M)

So there I was, just another guy doom-scrolling through YouTube at 1 a.m., trying to figure out if the Tennessee Titans were actually gonna trade the #1 pick or draft Cam Ward and pray he doesn’t turn into the next Zach Wilson. And right next to a “Top 10 draft busts” video, I see something that made me do a double take: “Tucker Carlson Interviews Sam Bankman-Fried… FROM PRISON.”

You read that right. The crypto goblin himself doing damage control from behind bars, practically wearing a MAGA hat and slow-smoking a brisket in hopes of scoring a Trump pardon. I laughed. I clicked. I cringed.

But this morning it got weirder. Nikola founder (and professional truck video faker) Trevor Milton is apparently pulling a page from the same playbook. In a video that looked like it was filmed mid-Uber ride, Milton dramatically announced: “I just got a call from the President of the United States... he signed my full and unconditional pardon of innocence.” 

Bro. What? This man (who once rolled a fake hydrogen-powered truck down a hill and passed it off as a fully-functioning prototype) was sentenced to 4 years in prison for defrauding investors and torching over $600 million in retirement funds and daytraders. Now he’s out here claiming he’s getting away scot free?

And yes, Trump allegedly pardoned him. The White House confirmed it (eventually), but court records haven’t been updated, and the official pardon site still doesn’t even recognize Trevor. So maybe it’s real. Or maybe he had a few too many drinks or lines off the bathroom floor and has no idea what he’s saying.

If you’re not familiar with the whole story… Milton, 42, was convicted in 2022 for straight-up lying to investors about Nikola’s tech. The trucks didn’t work. The Badger pickup wasn’t built “from the ground up.” The hydrogen fueling stations were mostly fairy dust. Shoutout to Hindenburg Research for exposing the whole thing in 2020, which caused the stock to drop from $1,977 all the way down to $.15 cents (a 99.95% loss).

At its peak Nikola was worth $30 billion. Where it’s at now? Chapter 11 bankruptcy court, with $47 million in cash left and trucks being recalled right and left.

Of course now Trevor’s out here dropping press releases comparing his legal woes to Trump’s, calling his conviction a “government railroad job” and comparing his plight to Donald Trump’s legal woes (as if that’s the exact same situation). Also, he may or may not have dropped $2 million to Republicans in late 2024, including $920K to the Trump 47 Committee. Nothing to see here, folks.

Look, whether the pardon is legit or not, the timing is just chef’s kiss. Federal prosecutors were two weeks away from forcing Milton to pay up $680 million in restitution, and now (poof) that’s gone. Evaporated. Like Nikola’s credibility post-IPO.

And now Trevor’s saying he’s plotting a comeback. But what about all those retired folks who lost all their money because of a huge lie? Are they going to get their money back? These kind of stories never cease to amaze me. Let’s just hope it’s not true.

P.S. Just when you thought our beloved congressmen couldn’t get any greasier, one Republican lawmaker decided to YOLO $175k into a stock… right before a major FDIC announcement hit. Lucky timing? Insider edge? You be the judge. We broke it all down inside our recent Stocks.News premium article… click here to check it out ASAP. 

Stock.News has positions in Uber.