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Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/business/ trevor-milton-pardon-nikola-trump-3163e19c Trevor Milton with a SyberJet SJ30 plane in Mesa, Ariz. Pardoned for Fraud, a CEO Mounts His Comeback: 'We Can Trust You Now' Trevor Milton's conviction for defrauding investors in truck company Nikola was wiped away. He's now raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying. Share Resize --------------------------------------------------------------------- Listen (2 min) Trevor Milton with a SyberJet SJ30 plane in Mesa, Ariz. ASH PONDERS FOR WSJ By Christopher Kuo and Ben Foldy At last year's Kennedy Center Honors, the venue's biggest event of the year, Trevor Milton took in part of the show from the balcony where honorees, celebrities and the president and first lady sat. Afterward, the entrepreneur mingled with guests--honorees included Sylvester Stallone and George Strait--inside the SyberJet Lounge, a swanky space that his company had spent millions to sponsor and that President Trump had called "gorgeous." That the 43-year-old was attending the black tie event with stars and Washington elites in December is a sign of how drastically Milton's fortunes had changed in 2025. Early that year, Nikola, the hydrogen truck company Milton had founded, filed for bankruptcy. Milton had left Nikola in 2020 under a cloud, and by 2022 had been convicted of defrauding the company's investors with what prosecutors said were his repeated lies about the development of the company's zero-emissions trucks and technology. He faced a four-year prison term--he was free on appeal--and federal prosecutors were seeking roughly $676 million in restitution from him. It was wiped away with a phone call. In March 2025, Trump called Milton to tell him he had signed an unconditional pardon. Milton had styled himself as a political victim of the Biden administration, and Trump agreed. Copyright (c)2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8