He’s famously flexible based on whatever he thinks is advantageous now. This could be as simple as his claims to have been unfairly persecuted by law enforcement, it could be part of his wealth gained from cryptocurrency, or it could simply be that he thinks it’ll make his opponents angry. Rich people often act on whims just to show that they have the power not to need to justify their actions.
It could be any of that, but it could also be as simple as libertarians requested it, he told them he would, and he didn't feel any reason to renege on that.
(I do think there's probably an element of deliberate disrespect to federal law enforcement and the justice system, but that alone doesn't answer the question why Ross specifically?)
AFAIK, it wasn't done because he wants to be lenient on drug traffickers, but because the overall case of Ross Ulbricht is huge in certain political circles that he was pandering to during the presidential race, so seems he's "paying back" for those votes or something.
> “Ross Ulbricht has been a libertarian political prisoner for more than a decade,” said a statement from Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle. “I’m proud to say that saving his life has been one of our top priorities and that has finally paid off.”
Seems the US-version of libertarians is that group.
There is a high correlation between his condemnation of drugs and characterizations of families, many poor and desperate, illegally crossing the border.
Most illegal drugs by far go through regular border crossings, but he hasn’t obsessed about them in the same way.
I don't think I buy this. He doesn't need to care about citizen votes anymore, and how big is the libertarian with a capital 'L' true believer block in Congress? Is there any? I'm not sure there was ever any political support for Ross Ulbricht.
Has to be something else going on here, none of the explanations in this thread are hitting it on the head for me.
If he wants to make the most of his next/last four years as president, then he needs to keep his supporters happy enough to vote in Republican congressmen in two years. Many of his supporters are the type to not vote at all because they think politicians are all two-faced liars, so it's important to keep them sufficiently moralized to vote in 2026.
Trump has never been a big drug warrior (against drug users). His social views are basically late 80's 1990s Democrat and not out of line with Clinton, etc.
Clinton was a drug war supporter. He started the whole "Yea But it is Still Federally Illegal under Federal Law" in response to proposition 215 in California in late December of 1996.
It was a big cause that many libertarians cared about. I'm sure all the crypto people who have Trump's ear have been pushing him on this. There are also rumors that some state-level libertarian leaders promised not to promote their candidate if Trump promised to free Ulbrecht.
Trump is predictable. This was his side of a transaction designed to secure support from a voter contingent. His personal opinions don't matter much when he is making a deal.
