President Donald Trump has never met with Chrisley's wife Julie on May 27, 2025 with his pardoned reality TV star Todd Chrisley.

But the couple has a lot in common.

They are both admired for their barbarian role and their salty spirit. Both enjoy a luxurious lifestyle: Trump is known for his real estate deals and Rococo's White House redecoration, Chrisley's entrepreneurial skills and acquiring huge possessions.

Grumpy tycoons, their lives are big and keep scoring - especially when people go past them.

Perhaps most importantly, both have had legal trouble with Georgia prosecutors. In 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Northern Georgia sued Chrisleys for fraud and tax evasion, while Fulton County District Attorney filed a lawsuit against Trump in 2023.

In 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced to 12 years and seven years in prison respectively in Fulton County. A year later, a Fulton County grand jury accused Trump of alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a case currently in a difficult situation.

Their daughter Savannah started running for the release of her campaign after Chrisleys went to jail. Her efforts to win prominent conservatives — including outspoken support for Trump — led to a prime time for the 2024 Republican National Convention.

"My family has been persecuted by rogue prosecutors because of our public image and conservative beliefs," she told representatives and television audiences of 15 million viewers.

She claimed that prosecutors called them "the trump card of the South."

Her framework for imprisonment of her parents coincides with Trump’s broader campaign narrative on victimization, redemption and retribution, with critics saying he continues to promote and execute during his second term.

Perfect preaching

Like Trump, who starred in "Apprentice" for 11 years, Chrisleys also has his own reality TV show.

From 2014 to 2023, "Chrisley Knows the Best" aired on the American Internet. I am familiar with Chrisley because I wrote about Todd in a 2018 book, which I co-edited on religious and reality TV. The show is particularly popular among audiences in their 30s who are fascinated by Chrisley's extravagant lifestyle and Todd's overly personality.

Todd called himself the "perfect patriarch", flying from Atlanta and later Nashville to Los Angeles twice a month to cut and stand out. He talked freely about the use of Botox and invited the audience into his room-sized closet, where his clothes were organized by color. No matter what time of day, Todd is ready to have his camera: polished, manicured and dressed in designer clothes.

The family enjoys all the pitfalls of success: premium cars, palatial homes and expensive holidays. However, in almost every episode, Todd makes it clear that his life and their life and their religion and responsibilities. In fact, many plots revolve around Todd’s efforts to promote these values ​​through parenting lessons.

On the one hand, Todd tried to teach his five children the value of responsibility and hard work. On the other hand, he bribed and coaxed them to do what he wanted to do. Todd seems to have two ways: his strictness and traditional values ​​attract Christian audiences, but his disorganization and ridicule wins secular audiences.

Sometimes his words rang. Todd talks about a lot of work, but audiences rarely see his work. He often quotes the Bible, but audiences rarely see him in church. He praised the family, but in the series, his two older kids Lindsie and Kyle disappeared from the show.

In 2023, the series also disappeared. At that time, Chrisley was in prison.

Trump knows best

On the day of the inauguration, when Trump pardoned or commuted for a sentence of about 1,500 people rebelling from January 6, 2021, he vowed to “take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponization of law enforcement.”

That's what Todd and Julie Chrisley's imprisonment and his pardon for them, according to the president.

Trump told Savannah Chrisley in a recorded phone conversation. “According to what I heard, they were treated very harshly.”

Trump's pardon has released many conservatives who have committed fraud, probably due to the belief that he and many others have been wrongly accused and persecuted elite free enterprises.

But pardons also hit home for his right-wing religious supporters, many of whom believe Democrats will do anything to eliminate their faith, including using the justice system to target Christians specifically.

"We live in a country based on freedom, freedom and justice," Savannah Chrisley said in his RNC speech. "Looking at what they do to countless Christians and conservatives, the government has labeled them extremists, and even worse. ”

Although these claims have been controversial, at home and abroad, eliminating anti-Christian bias remains at the heart of Trump's policy during his second term.

The attorney who sued Chrisley had a different view. They called Todd and Julie: "Family scammers who jump from one fraud scheme to another, lie to banks, stiff suppliers and tax evasion in every corner," their reputation was "based on the lies that their wealth came from dedication and hard work."

Eventually, the couple was found guilty of cheating at the Atlanta-area bank $36 million, which used a forged paper to apply for a mortgage and obtain false loans to repay older loans instead of repaying them. They were also convicted of hiding their true income in the IRS and owing $500,000 in after-tax.

Todd said during his sentence that he intended to repay it all. In a press conference after the pardon, he said he was convicted of something he had not done.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpzyt9ltmj0[/embed]

In the days since its release, Chrisleys announced that it was filming a new reality show that will air throughout the lifetime. The series will focus on the couple's legal struggle, imprisonment, pardon and unity.

Thanks to the president's constitutional protection, Trump's re-election has saved him from ongoing federal criminal prosecution. And now, thanks to the strokes in Trump's pen, "Trump of the South" has also begun again.