Ali’s conviction had already been overturned almost 50 years prior, so it is unclear what Trump sought to pardon. Ali’s family and estate attorney responded that while they “appreciate President Trump’s sentiment…a pardon is unnecessary.”

In 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned Muhammad Ali’s conviction to refuse a draft into the Vietnam War. Ali’s lawyer remarked that “there is no conviction from which a pardon is needed.”

The New York Times – Trump Says He’s Considering a Pardon for Muhammad Ali