President Trump on Tuesday announced the commutation of former Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich's prison term, releasing the disgraced politician from incarceration four years before the end of a sentence the president blasted as "ridiculous."

The former governor of Illinois had been sent to prison in 2010 after being convicted of selling Barack Obama's Senate seat when the latter had ascended to the presidency. The Illinois governor had exhausted all of his appeals and looked set to serve the rest of his term, which was due to end in 2024.

Trump said he was motivated to commute the sentence in part because Blagojevich's children "rarely [got] to see their father outside of an orange uniform."

The president also announced the commutation of the terms of Michael Milken, convicted of violating United States security laws, and Bernard Kerik, the ex-New York City Police Commissioner who went to prison on tax fraud charges in 2010.