President Donald Trump on Thursday appointed Alice Marie Johnson, a woman he pardoned during his first term, as "pardon czar." The announcement came during a Black History Month event at the White House.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had made Alice Johnson, a Tennessee woman who was serving a life sentence for a drug crime before Trump commuted her sentence, a "pardon czar" to advise him on further acts of clemency.

The ceremony comes as the Trump administration has pushed to eradicate diversity programs from the government, which some agencies have interpreted to end the observance of identity-based months.