Washington | President Donald Trump on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) granted a full pardon to Conrad Black, the former press baron and onetime society fixture who was found guilty of fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007.

The pardon of Black, a political ally and longtime associate of Trump's, was the latest example of the president using one of the unilateral powers of his office to absolve a high-profile public figure whose case resonates with him personally, bucking the more traditional practice of sifting through thousands of pardon applications awaiting his review.