Trump Defends Pardon of Binance Founder, Says He Doesn’t Know Him

Highlights:

• Trump denied any personal connection with CZ after issuing a presidential pardon last month.
• Binance’s $2 billion deal with the Trump family stablecoin raises conflict of interest questions.
• Elizabeth Warren calls CZ Zhao’s pardon “corruption” and warns it could weaken federal law.

In a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, President Donald Trump said he has no personal link with Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, even though he pardoned him last month. Trump responded to questions about the pardon by saying, “I don’t know who he is,” and added that he had heard CZ’s case was a “Biden witch hunt.”

Zhao completed a four-month jail sentence and was released in September last year. He had earlier pleaded guilty to not maintaining a proper system to prevent money laundering. As part of the case, Zhao paid a $50 million penalty, while Binance reached a $4.3 billion settlement with authorities. Trump’s pardon has faced criticism from some lawmakers, who think it may be a conflict of interest because of Binance’s possible financial ties to Trump’s family businesses.

See President Donald J. Trump's FULL interview on @60Minutes — all 73+ minutes, without the network's edits and cuts.

WATCH IN FULL: pic.twitter.com/i95cQ3Gqei

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 3, 2025

Trump Distances Himself from $2B Binance Deal

When asked about Binance’s reported $2 billion deal connected to World Liberty Financial, a stablecoin project linked to his family, Trump played down any involvement. He said he wasn’t aware of it because he was too busy. Trump explained that his sons manage their own business matters and said he was glad they were part of the crypto space, calling it a fast-growing industry. He also noted that they focus on running their businesses and have no role in government.

Trump said he knows nothing about CZ, except that he sees him as a victim of government “weaponization” under Biden’s administration. “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,” he added. The president warned that targeting people could harm the industry, saying it would be very bad.

Elizabeth Warren Calls CZ Pardon “Corruption”

The dispute grew after Senator Elizabeth Warren called the Pardon of Binance Founder an act of “corruption” in an October 23 post on X. Zhao’s lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillén, accused Warren of defamation and demanded that she take back her statement.

But Warren’s attorney, Ben Stafford, rejected the accusation, saying any legal action would have “no basis.” He explained that Zhao’s conviction for breaking the Bank Secrecy Act was publicly documented and that Warren’s statement was “true in all respects.” Warren also claimed that Zhao helped fund Trump’s stablecoin project and pushed for a pardon. 

CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison.

But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon.

Today, he got it.

If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it. pic.twitter.com/NsWeaJcVeK

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 23, 2025

Senators Question Trump’s Pardon of Binance Founder

Moreover, Senators Chris Van Hollen, Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Bernard Sanders, Jack Reed, and Jeffrey Merkley wrote in a letter on Tuesday, October 29, that the pardon could weaken federal agencies’ ability to detect and prevent financial crimes.

The senators pointed to possible links between Zhao, Trump, and Binance. They asked the DOJ and Attorney General Bondi to clarify how the pardon could impact crypto firms and enforcement efforts. They also want to know whether Trump’s financial ties to Zhao played any part in the decision.