Copyright Atlanta Black Star
President Donald Trump’s week took another surreal turn when his own words started contradicting each other on camera. Within days, the former president managed to tell two completely different versions of the same story — first claiming total ignorance, then boasting about his flawless recall — leaving even his supporters struggling to keep up. During his keynote address Wednesday evening at the America Business Forum in Miami, Trump told a crowd of business leaders that he remembers every pardon he issues — a remark that directly conflicts with his earlier claim on national television that he didn’t know one of the men he pardoned. The new comments, captured on video, show a president speaking with absolute confidence about an act of clemency he previously said he couldn’t recall at all. “He gave thousands of pardons to people he had no idea about it,” Trump said, referring to President Biden. ‘The Man Is Insane’: Trump Throws a Tantrum After a Brutal Graphic Forces Him to Face Reality, But What He Says Next Reveals Just How Far He’s Slipped “He didn’t know about it, and therefore, all those pardons are void … It’s a very complicated thing, you have to do it properly. He didn’t have any idea what was happening. And this is what we had as a president and we don’t want that. You have the opposite right now. I don’t want to be braggadocious, but I know exactly what’s happened.” The remarks set off a fresh wave of disbelief online, where users pointed out that Trump had recently said almost the opposite when asked about his pardon of Changpeng Zhao, the former Binance CEO known as CZ. “Is this real? Will no one tell him about last week?” one user wondered. “He literally just told @CBSNews he knew nothing about the crypto guy he pardoned. Un f….. real,” another said. View on Threads “Does he think that when he is being filmed, that it’s like… recording over the other stuff that he has said?” another added hilariously. The controversy traces back to Trump’s 60 Minutes interview with CBS journalist Norah O’Donnell, which aired Sunday night. O’Donnell pressed Trump on his decision to pardon Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating federal anti–money-laundering laws and whose company later partnered with the Trump family’s new cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial. The firm’s involvement reportedly helped inject $2 billion into the Trump family business. When asked why he chose to pardon Zhao, Trump offered a striking answer. “OK, are you ready for this? I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. “I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that, and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.” O’Donnell followed up, questioning the optics of the decision given Zhao’s ties to his family’s financial interests. Trump denied any personal role. “Here’s the thing, I know nothing about it because I’m too busy doing the other thing,” he said. “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.” The denial drew scrutiny inside and outside Washington, particularly because it was not the first time Trump had appeared uncertain about Zhao. Days before the interview aired, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins had questioned him on the same topic at the White House. “Today you pardoned the founder of Binance. Can you explain why you chose to pardon him and did it have anything to do with his involvement in your family’s business?” Collins asked. Trump interrupted. “Who’s that?” he said. “The founder of Binance,” Collins repeated. “The recent one? I believe we’re talking about the same person, ’cause I do pardon a lot of people,” Trump continued. “I don’t know. He was recommended by a lot of people. A lot of people say, are you talking about the crypto person? A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything.” Those remarks circulated widely and underscored Trump’s shifting narrative — from claiming ignorance in multiple public settings to asserting in Miami that he “knows exactly what’s happened.” To make mattes worse, Trump has repeatedly criticized President Biden for using an autopen — a mechanical signature device — to approve clemency documents. Yet, he has since acknowledged that he used one himself, undercutting his own criticism and raising questions about whether his earlier statements reflected oversight or confusion. For many observers, the contrast was striking. “Apparently, he’s already forgotten the 60 Minutes interview he just did a few days ago,” one commenter said. “Waaait a minute. Do you think that Trump’s dementia has gotten to the point where he thinks HE is Biden? Since he is guilty of LITERALLY EVERYTHING he claims Biden did, do you like he has just…slid?” another wrote. One user wrapped the entire event in one brutal post. “Hey Grandpa Brain Plaque, did you forget you admitted to Kristen welker you didn’t have any f….. idea who the hell the memecoin guy your kids are in business with,that you just f….., along with the 4 billion dollar payback, let go even though you said you didn’t know the guy but everyone told you he was innocent -that it was a witch Hunt? You don’t remember anybody ,you don’t know what you’re signing 😂” Zhao, who resigned as Binance CEO in 2023, served four months in federal custody and was released in September 2024. Binance later reached a $4.3 billion settlement with the Justice Department over violations tied to illegal transactions, according to CNBC. The pardon drew heightened scrutiny because Binance later helped legitimize the Trump family’s stablecoin venture, pushing World Liberty Financial’s valuation from $127 million to more than $2 billion in less than a year, according to The Wall Street Journal. “The pardon marks the most distinct instance yet of Trump using the powers of his office to benefit someone at the center of deals that have enriched his family,” according to the WSJ. For now, the contradictions remain on tape — and the timeline speaks for itself.
