Trump's decision to commute Blagojevich's sentence was met with bipartisan criticism in Illinois. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said at the time that Trump "has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time."

It’s my honor to do it. I’ve watched him. He was set up by a lot of bad people,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office before signing the full and unconditional