Trump has again denied any contact with Binance co-founder CZ amid reports that the exchange helped broker a $2 billion stablecoin deal involving his World Liberty Financial platform.
US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to pardon Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, claiming he does not know the crypto industry leader personally and dismissing criticism that the move was politically motivated.
Trump said he did not know who CZ was in an interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes on Sunday, reiterating a similar sentiment as shortly after he signed the pardon in late October.
“Okay, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” Trump said when asked about the pardon, adding that he had heard the CZ case was a “Biden witch hunt.”
Trump's comments about the former Binance CEO — who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2023 — come after a series of allegations about potential conflicts of interest related to Binance's ties to crypto projects linked to the Trump family.
Allegations of “paying for privileges”
When questioned by CBS host Norah O'Donnell about reports that Binance facilitated a $2 billion stablecoin purchase related to the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project shortly before the pardon, Trump flatly denied it.
“The thing is, I don't know anything about it, because I'm so busy with other things,” Trump said.
When O'Donnell interrupted: “But he was pardoned,” Trump replied:
“Norah, I can only say this — my sons are involved in that. And I'm very happy about that, because crypto is probably a great industry. I think it's good. You know, they're running a business; they're not working in government [...] I'm proud of them, and I'm focused on my work.”
“I know nothing about that man other than I heard he was a victim of government abuse,” Trump said of CZ, referring to what he called “a corrupt government” under Biden.
Trump: “I only care about one thing – making crypto great for America”
“The only thing I care about,” Trump continued, “is making crypto great for America,” adding:
“Crypto has become a huge industry, if you want to call it that. And I'm very proud to say that we're ahead of China and all the others. And China is now very heavily involved.”
“If you go after everybody, you kill the whole industry, and that would be terrible,” Trump concluded.
