Trump pardons ex-Nikola CEO Trevor Milton

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Trump pardons ex-Nikola CEO Trevor Milton

“I am free.”

www.theverge.com

Trump pardons ex-Nikola CEO Trevor Milton​

Milton was convicted of defrauding investors in his zero-emission truck company in 2023.

by Andrew J. Hawkins

Mar 28, 2025, 11:39 AM EDT

40 Comments40 New

Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola Corp., exits court in New York, US, on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Andrew J. Hawkins is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.

Trevor Milton, the founder of Nikola Motors who was convicted of defrauding investors in his zero-emission truck company, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump, the White House confirmed Friday.

A federal jury convicted Milton of lying about Nikola’s capabilities, including an assertion that it had built its own electric truck, the Nikola One, from the “ground up.” He was also accused of staging a video that purportedly showed its Nikola One semi driving under its own power when it was actually rolling down a hill.

Milton was sentenced to four years in prison, but remained out on bond while he appealed his conviction. “I am free,” Milton said in a video posted on X. “The prosecutors can no longer hurt me.”

Today I was issued a full and unconditional pardon by @realDonaldTrump himself. He called me personally to tell me.

This pardon is not just about me—it’s about every American who has been railroaded by the government, and unfortunately, that’s a lot of people. It is no wonder… pic.twitter.com/qpT0jjI6Fy

— Trevor Milton (@nikolatrevor) March 28, 2025​

Founded in 2015, Nikola staked out a unique position in the EV space by claiming it would make zero-emission big rigs using hydrogen fuel cell technology. But questions emerged about the company’s claims after short-selling firm Hindenburg Research published a bombshell report accusing Nikola of fraud, including the video showing the truck rolling down a hill. The report set off a chain reaction that resulted in Milton’s stepping down as board chair and CEO and his eventual arrest.

In addition to staging the video, Milton was accused of falsely claiming to produce his own hydrogen fuels at below-market rates and obtaining “billions and billions and billions and billions” of dollars’ worth of committed truck orders. Earlier this year, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Milton isn’t the first controversial figure for the transportation world to receive a pardon from Trump. During his first term, Trump pardoned Anthony Levandowski, who was convicted of stealing trade secrets from Google’s self-driving car division.

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

I remember him and his fake hydro trucks. There is no good reason to pardon this guy.

I guess securities fraud is legal now

 

[Dorian Breh]

President Elon trading pardons for patents

 

[ALMIGHTY GOD]

out in fontana i see his trucks all the time. there's a lot full of them on valley boulevard i think

 

[keond]

Dude is pardoning folks for money and white supremacist, he will probably pardon Diddy once he wants to distract from bombing a country or some shyt. Worst president ever

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I remember the NKLA wave Scam artist, scumbag shyt... dude should be rotting in prison still but of course it's Trump

 

[⠀⠀⠀]

Dude is pardoning folks for money and white supremacist, he will probably pardon Diddy once he wants to distract from bombing a country or some shyt. Worst president ever

 

[hashmander]

the name even screamed scam from the jump. it would be like a successful company being named einstein and some scammer says i'm gonna create a similar (but different) company called albert.