{"id":410074,"date":"2025-11-03T13:24:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T07:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/trump-downplays-knowledge-of-binance-chief-after-pardon-linked-to-familys-crypto-dealings-crypto-news\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T13:32:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:02:13","slug":"trump-downplays-knowledge-of-binance-chief-after-pardon-linked-to-familys-crypto-dealings-crypto-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/trump-downplays-knowledge-of-binance-chief-after-pardon-linked-to-familys-crypto-dealings-crypto-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Downplays Knowledge of Binance Chief After Pardon Linked to Family&#8217;s Crypto Dealings &#8211; Crypto News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"position:relative;overflow:visible;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.58\">\n<div class=\"pt-8 pb-10 border-t border-b border-decryptGridline \">\n<h4 class=\"sc-b2a202e4-4 bNRGqr gg-dark:text-white\" color=\"#333\">In brief<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"font-meta-serif-pro font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">The CBS segment was Trump\u2019s first sit-down with 60 Minutes in five years, spanning the government shutdown, foreign policy, and crypto.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-meta-serif-pro font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Trump said he \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d CZ and had been \u201ctold\u201d Zhao was wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-meta-serif-pro font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">O\u2019Donnell pressed the president on Binance\u2019s $2 billion transaction involving his family\u2019s World Liberty Financial stablecoin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">In his first <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight:400\">60 Minutes<\/span><\/i> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dAvuTHIyUTo\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">interview<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> in half a decade, President Donald Trump defended his decision to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/345681\/trump-pardons-binance-founder-changpeng-zhao\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">pardon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> Binance founder Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao, insisting he had no personal knowledge of the crypto billionaire and was acting on what he described as a politically motivated prosecution by the previous administration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Asked by correspondent Norah O\u2019Donnell why he pardoned Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering laws, Trump replied frankly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">\u201cOkay, are you ready? I don\u2019t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt,\u201d Trump said in the interview, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/read-full-transcript-norah-odonnell-60-minutes-interview-with-president-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">published<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> Sunday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border:0\" src=\"https:\/\/myriad.markets\/embed\/market\/will-this-be-the-longest-government-shutdown-in-us-history-9877a05f-d031-4815-865a-bf0e0e2db710\" width=\"100%\" height=\"415px\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:0px;overflow:hidden;line-height:0\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Asked about how he hoped to address \u201cthe appearance of pay for play\u201d given Binance\u2019s $2 billion <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/309666\/binance-2b-investment-abu-dhabi-firm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">purchase<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> of his family firm\u2019s stablecoin earlier this year, Trump said he knew \u201cnothing about it\u201d and was \u201ctoo busy\u201d doing other things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">He added that his sons\u2019 involvement in crypto was separate from government affairs: \u201cThey\u2019re running a business, they\u2019re not in government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Trump went on to describe Zhao as a \u201crespected\u201d entrepreneur who, he said, had been the \u201cvictim of weaponization by government,\u201d referring to the prior administration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Trump framed his decision as consistent with a broader push to support the U.S. crypto sector, saying his focus was on keeping the country \u201cnumber one in crypto\u201d amid growing competition from China, Japan, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">\u201cI wanna make crypto great for America. That&#8217;s the only thing,\u201d Trump said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Adding a comparison with the U.S.\u2019s position in AI, he said: \u201cThe same way we&#8217;re number one with AI, we&#8217;re number one with crypto. And I wanna keep it that way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The exchange was aired as part of a broader interview taped at Trump\u2019s private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida. It also covered the ongoing government shutdown, immigration raids, and U.S. trade relations, following Trump&#8217;s visit to Asia last week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">It was the President\u2019s first appearance on the CBS program since <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/media-telecom\/paramount-settles-with-trump-over-60-minutes-interview-la-times-reports-2025-07-02\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">settling<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> a lawsuit with parent company Paramount in July over a 2024 election interview with Kamala Harris, for which he received a $16 million settlement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The segment marked the first on-record explanation for Zhao\u2019s pardon, which had drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators, given World Liberty Financial\u2019s expanding crypto footprint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Speculation that President Trump <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/294287\/donald-trump-pardon-binance-ceo-cz\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">might pardon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> Zhao first surfaced in December 2024, weeks before he took office, following reports of backchannel lobbying within the digital-asset industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Just over a week before the pardon came to fruition, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/343896\/presidential-pardon-binance-founder-cz-report\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">insider claims<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> resurfaced the rumor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Democrats have criticized the pardon, with some <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/346944\/connecticut-senator-says-binance-greased-the-wheels-for-trumps-crypto-deals\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">suggesting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> that Binance \u201cgreased the wheels\u201d for Trump\u2019s crypto dealings, citing payments and lobbying activity tied to World Liberty Financial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">Others have <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/346294\/democrat-seeks-crypto-trading-ban-politicians-binance-pardon\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">moved<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> to tighten ethics rules, including a proposal to bar members of Congress and senior officials from trading or holding digital assets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">A <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/346089\/senators-warren-schiff-resolution-denouncing-trump-pardon-binance-founder\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">resolution<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight:400\"> questioning the pardon\u2019s propriety is being led by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff, who called for a congressional review of any connections between Binance and the Trump administration.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"my-4 border-b border-decryptGridline\">\n<div class=\"text-start p-8 md:py-12 md:px-12 max-w-prose relative\"><span class=\"border-t-4 border-l-4 w-4 h-4 md:border-t-[6px] md:border-l-[6px] md:w-6 md:h-6 border-decryptPurple dark:border-decryptNeon gg-dark:border-cc-pink-2 absolute top-4 left-4 md:top-6 md:left-6\"\/><span class=\"border-t-4 border-l-4 w-4 h-4 md:border-t-[6px] md:border-l-[6px] md:w-6 md:h-6 border-decryptPurple dark:border-decryptNeon gg-dark:border-cc-pink-2 absolute rotate-180 bottom-4 right-4 md:bottom-6 md:right-6\"\/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-akzidenz-grotesk font-bold text-xl md:text-3xl md:text-center gg-dark:text-white\">Daily Debrief<!-- --> Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p>Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In brief The CBS segment was Trump\u2019s first sit-down with 60 Minutes in five years, spanning the government shutdown, foreign policy, and crypto. Trump said he \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d CZ and had been \u201ctold\u201d Zhao was wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration. O\u2019Donnell pressed the president on Binance\u2019s $2 billion transaction involving his family\u2019s World Liberty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,225,221,227,226,228,229,60,223,224,222],"class_list":["post-410074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto","tag-decentralised","tag-decentralized","tag-decentralized-exchange","tag-erc-20","tag-featured","tag-meme-coin","tag-robinhood","tag-solana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410076,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410074\/revisions\/410076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}