Honduras former President Juan Orlando Hernandez is escorted by authorities as he walks towards a plane of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for his extradition to the United States, to face a trial on drug trafficking and arms possession charges, at the Hernan Acosta Mejia Air Force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Fredy Rodriguez

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Friday he will grant a pardon to former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the U.S. after his conviction on drug trafficking and firearms charges.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated his backing for Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the conservative National Party and said that "if he doesn't win, the United States will not be throwing good money."

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)