In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview aired on Sunday, President Trump said he didn’t know who Changpeng Zhao is, even though he’s the crypto billionaire with ties to the Trump family’s own crypto venture.
Zhao was the co-founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume. In 2023, Zhao, also known as CZ (pictured), pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering rules, with Zhao later stepping down as CEO and the firm paying a fine of $4.3 billion. The company had formed a U.S. arm in 2017, which, according to reports, was to distract financial regulators from the illicit activities of its parent company.
Following the arrest of Zhao, the Trump family reportedly stepped in to discuss the takeover of Binance’s U.S. operations. In October, Trump pardoned Zhao. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
Yet, on Sunday, when Trump had his first interview with “60 Minutes” in five years, Trump told host Norah O’Donnell he didn’t know who Zhao was. O’Donnell asked, “The government at the time said that CZ had caused ‘significant harm to U.S. national security,’ essentially by allowing terrorist groups like Hamas to move millions of dollars around… Why did you pardon him?”
“OK, are you ready?” replied Trump. “I don’t know who he is.” He claimed that Zhao had been the victim of a “Biden witch hunt,” adding, “I was told that he was a victim, just like I was and just like many other people, of a vicious, horrible group of people in the Biden administration.”
O’Donnell followed up by asking about a possible conflict of interest, given that Binance had helped facilitate a $2 billion purchase of the Trump family-owned World Liberty Financial stablecoin.
Trump said he’d been “busy,” explaining, “Norah, I can only tell you this. My sons are into it. 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.”
He subsequently seemed to try to steer the conversation in another direction, but O’Donnell pressed, asking him if the recent developments didn’t give “the appearance of corruption.” His response: “I can’t say, because… I can’t say… I’m not concerned. I don’t… I’d rather not have you ask the question.”
Trump stuck by his guns, claiming Zhao has been the victim of the Biden administration’s corruption. “We are number one in crypto and that’s the only thing I care about,” he explained at the end of the segment, which was the end of the interview. “I don’t want China or anybody else to take it away. It’s a massive industry.”
Photo: Flickr
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