US President Donald Trump defended his pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, asserting that he does not personally know the crypto executive and dismissing criticism that the move was politically motivated.
In an interview with CBS News’ *60 Minutes* on Sunday, Trump reiterated his previous claims following the pardon granted in late October. When asked about the pardon, Trump responded, “OK, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” adding that he had heard CZ’s case was a “Biden witch hunt.”
Trump’s remarks regarding the former Binance CEO, who admitted to facilitating money laundering in 2023, came amid a series of allegations suggesting possible conflicts of interest due to Binance’s ties with crypto ventures linked to the Trump family.
### “Pay-for-Play” Claims Addressed
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. He stated, “Well, here’s the thing, I know nothing about it because I’m too busy doing the other.”
After O’Donnell interjected, “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.”
On CZ, Trump said, “I know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he’s a victim of weaponization by the government,” referring to what he called a “corrupt government” under the Biden administration.
### Supporting American Crypto Industry
“I only care about one thing,” Trump continued, emphasizing his desire to “make crypto great for America.” He added, “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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**Related:** Elizabeth Warren rebuffs CZ defamation threat as ‘without merit’
https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-tells-why-he-pardoned-cz-despite-not-knowing-him?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
