Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich arrives for a court hearing at the Dirksen Federal Building on April 21, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois.

President Donald Trump said this week that he was considering a commutation of the remainder of former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence.

It wasn't the president's first time floating the offer. But Blagojevich's friends and family think it could actually happen this time.

Mark Vargas, a former Defense Department official who described himself as a "Blagojevich family friend" in a phone call with CNBC, said that the "big difference" is that Blagojevich has seen more recent support than when Trump first raised the issue last year.

There's "more activity and support, public support now," Vargas said. "A little bit more momentum."

On Wednesday night, upon return to Washington after visiting the first responders and victims of two deadly mass shootings over the weekend, Trump made the surprise announcement.

"We're going to be doing something very, I think -- very impactful," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"A man who is a Democrat, not a Republican -- who I don't know very well, but he was on 'The Apprentice' for a couple of weeks," Trump said, referring to his defunct reality television show. "His name is Rod Blagojevich. And I am thinking about commuting his sentence ... in fact, I'm very strongly considering that -- I think he was treated unbelievably unfairly."