Adedokun Waliyu 
U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon to Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola Corp., who was convicted in 2022 on federal securities and wire-fraud charges for misleading investors about his company’s electric- and hydrogen-powered trucks’ capabilities. Milton, 42, was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2023, but remained free pending appeal in a New York federal court. The presidential pardon nullifies his prison sentence, as well as a US$1-million fine imposed at sentencing.
The U.S. District Court in Manhattan had been considering whether to order Milton to pay restitution totalling US$695.2 million—$680 million to Nikola shareholders, and $15.2 million to an individual victim. However, due to the pardon, the court can no longer enforce restitution orders.
Milton announced the pardon in a video posted Thursday to his personal Instagram account. In the video, he claimed to have received a call directly from Trump. “I just got a call from the president of the United States,” he said, adding that Trump had signed a full pardon. The White House later confirmed the action.
Milton was initially indicted in July 2021. Prosecutors said he made false statements between November 2019 and September 2020 to encourage investment in Nikola. These included claims that Nikola had developed a fully operational semi-truck prototype and engineered a proprietary hydrogen-powered pickup. Remember the video featuring a driving Nikola semi? Allegedly, the truck was rolling down a hill, and not moving under its own power.
In late 2023, a judge confirmed an arbitration ruling requiring Milton to pay US$167.7 million in damages related to those misrepresentations.
Nikola filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2025 in Delaware, listing between US$1 billion and US$10 billion in liabilities. The company reported just $47 million in cash on hand, and warned it could not fund operations beyond the first quarter of 2025.
The company, which was set to commercialize battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks, had delivered only 600 vehicles since 2022. It has also faced multiple product recalls and reduced capital amid ongoing financial challenges.
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