US President Donald Trump defended his pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, claiming he doesn’t personally know the crypto executive and dismissing criticism that the move was politically motivated.
Trump claimed that he doesn’t know CZ in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, reiterating his previous claims after pardoning him in late October.
“OK, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” Trump replied when asked about the pardon in the interview, adding that he had heard that CZ’s case was a “Biden witch hunt.”
Trump’s remarks about the former Binance CEO, who admitted to facilitating money laundering in 2023, followed a series of allegations suggesting possible conflicts of interest arising from Binance’s ties with crypto ventures linked to the Trump family.
“Pay-for-play” grill
Pressed by CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell on reports that Binance facilitated a $2 billion stablecoin purchase tied to Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) ahead of the pardon, Trump dismissed the suggestion.
“Well, here’s the thing, I know nothing about it because I’m too busy doing the other,” 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 know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he’s a victim of weaponization by the government,” Trump said of CZ, referring to what he called a “corrupt government” under the Biden administration.
Related: Elizabeth Warren rebuffs CZ defamation threat as ‘without merit’
“I only care about one thing,” Trump continued, saying that he wants to “make crypto great for America,” and adding:
“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.
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