When Donald Trump Wanted a 'Quid Pro Quo' From Kim Kardashian for Her Criminal Reforms Requests

When Kim Kardashian and former President Donald Trump met in the Oval Office in 2018 to talk about sentencing and prison reform, the news was widely reported. Alice Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for misdemeanor drug and money laundering crimes, received clemency from Trump a few days after their meeting.

However, according to the forthcoming book by journalist Jonathan Karl (who worked for ABC News), Tired of Winning, the Republican leader "listened to her requests and demanded a straight-up quid pro quo." The book also stated that “[Trump] would grant the commutations, he told Kardashian, if she leveraged her celebrity connections to get football stars who were friends of hers to come visit him at the White House.”

“I have nothing bad to say about the president,” the SKIMS founder said later that year. “He has done something amazing.” As per The Hill, later, the KUWTK alum “actually tried to do what Trump demanded,” according to Karl, “seeing it as a small price to pay to get justice for people she believed were serving unjust sentences. But all the players she approached declined. Trump had become too toxic.”

Following Trump's departure from office in 2021, Kardashian once again contacted the former President in an attempt to get his support for additional clemency initiatives. “Hell no, the former president told her. He wouldn’t do it,” Karl mentioned in the book, before adding, “'You voted for Biden, and now you come asking me for a favor?’ Trump told her. After a few more choice words, the line went dead. Trump had hung up on her.” 

Karl pointed out that although Kardashian never openly supported a 2020 presidential candidate, in the days following the election in November, she shared a picture of then-President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on social media with heart emojis. As per the same report by The Hill, back then, the Hulu star had proclaimed to be a 'mix' of both the political parties.

“I believe in the rights that the Democrats want, but I believe in the taxes that the Republicans want,” the reality star stated in an interview that appeared on the Common Sense Substack of former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss. When asked what political affiliation she had, Kardashian replied, "I'm a mix of both." 

When asked if she would ever run for public office, Kim replied, “As of right now, no. I understand the responsibility, and it’s an extremely hard job, and I don’t know if I’d ever want that.” She continued, “I’m just about doing the right thing; I’m really not about politics at all. It’s really about the people inside, and if I can do anything — no matter if it’s Obama, Biden, [or] Trump, I’m willing to work with anybody. It’s not really about being liked. If I could change someone’s life, that’s what it’s about for me.”