U.S. President Donald Trump defended his decision to pardon Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, saying he doesn’t personally know the crypto executive and rejecting claims that the move was politically driven.
In an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump reiterated that he had no personal connection to Zhao, whom he pardoned in late October.
“OK, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” Trump said when asked about the decision, adding that he’d heard Zhao’s case was part of a “Biden witch hunt.”
Trump’s comments came amid renewed scrutiny over alleged conflicts of interest tied to Binance’s connections with crypto ventures linked to the Trump family. Zhao, the former Binance CEO, had pleaded guilty to facilitating money laundering in 2023.
When pressed by anchor Norah O’Donnell about reports that Binance had facilitated a $2 billion stablecoin purchase linked to Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) ahead of the pardon, Trump dismissed the claim.
“Well, here’s the thing — I know nothing about it because I’m too busy doing other things,” the president said.
After O’Donnell interrupted, “But he got a pardon,” Trump replied:
“Norah, I can only tell you this — my sons are into it. And I’m glad they are, because it’s probably a great industry, crypto. I think it’s good. You know, they’re running a business; they’re not in government […] I’m proud of them, I’m focused on this.”
“I don’t know the guy, except that I’ve heard he’s a victim of government weaponization,” Trump said of CZ, accusing the Biden administration of running a “corrupt government.”
“I only care about one thing,” Trump added. “I want to make crypto great for America.”
“Crypto has turned out to be a massive industry, if you want to call it that. And I’m very proud to say we are far ahead of China and everybody else. And China is getting into it in a very big way right now.”
“If you go after people, you’re going to kill that industry, and that would be very bad,” the president concluded.
