Copyright dailymail
Donald Trump said he knows 'nothing about' the presidential pardon of a Chinese-Canadian cryptocurrency boss who helped his family make billions. The president was asked about the pardon of Changpeng Zhao on 60 Minutes after the Binance founder helped turn Trump's sons' World Liberty Financial into a massive success. 'Okay, are you ready? I don't know who he is,' Trump responded when asked about Zhao. 'I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt. And what I wanna do is see crypto, because if we don't do it, it's gonna go to China, it's gonna go to-- this is no different to me than AI.' The Abu Dhabi-based Zhao, 48, commonly referred to by his initials 'CZ', was sentenced to four months in prison for violating anti-money-laundering requirements in the Bank Secrecy Act in 2024. Trump believes that Zhao was railroaded by the previous administration in Washington. 'This man was treated really badly by the Biden administration. And he was given a jail term. He's highly respected. He's a very successful guy. They sent him to jail and they really set him up. That's my opinion. I was told about it.' While Trump admitted that he wondered if it would look badly if he did it, ultimately: 'I have to do the right thing.' 'I don't know the man at all. I don't think I ever met him. Maybe I did. Or, you know, somebody shook my hand or something. But I don't think I ever met him. I have no idea who he is. I was told that he was a victim, just like I was and just like many other people, of a vicious, horrible group of people in the Biden administration.' O'Donnell continued to press Trump on the charges against Zhao, including the Biden government saying he caused 'significant harm to US national security.' Trump continued to point out that this was under the Biden administration. Then, O'Donnell asked Trump about Binance's work helping Don Jr and Eric's crypto business by facilitating a $2billion purchase of the company's stablecoin just before Zhao was pardon. 'Norah, I can only tell you this. My sons are into it. I'm glad they are, because it's probably a great industry, crypto. I think it's good,' he said. Trump then pointed out his family members' other successes, including Eric and wife Melania's books and how 'proud' he was. 'I know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he was a victim of weaponization by government. When you say the government, you're talking about the Biden government.' The pardon immediately raised concerns among allies and critics of the President, who reacted with concern over how his family's foray into the blockchain has pushed him closer to the convicted crypto king. He has promised to 'help make America the Capital of Crypto.' Since his release, Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has worked to earn the founder a pardon, which could pave the way for the company to once again operate in the US after it was barred doing so in 2023, reported the Wall Street Journal, which first broke the news of the pardon. 'This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. 'Even the judge indicated that the Biden administration was pursuing an egregious over-sentencing of this individual, and the previous administration was very hostile.' The pardon immediately ruffled feathers among Trump's allies and critics. Since Trump was elected, Binance has played a large role in supporting Trump's family crypto venture World Liberty Financial (WLF), the vehicle responsible for most of the President's new wealth generation. Don Jr., Eric and Barron are co-founders of World Liberty Financial Investments which launched as a way for the three brothers and their partners to allow people to access financial services using cryptocurrencies and without intermediaries like banks. The venture opened for public trading on Monday and it gained WLFI $5billion in paper wealth, making it likely the Trump family's most valuable asset, WSJ reported. The co-founders include all three Trump boys, as well as the sons of top Trump administration diplomat Steve Witkoff. Both President Trump and Witkoff are listed as 'co-founder emeritus' and the president owns around 25 percent of WFLI tokens. WLF recently announced a $2 billion investment fund in the United Arab Emirates, where CZ lives, for the nation to purchase a stake in Binance using USD1, a crypto coin operated by WLF. The company is expected to profit off of the deal as the company makes money when its coins, like USD1, are used for transactions. Binance has also encouraged its users to trade USD1 on its platform. The Trump-backed crypto firm has boasted about its connections to CZ, who is by all measures the most successful crypto entrepreneur in history through his creation of Binance and investments in other industry projects. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has promised that 'neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest' in a statement. World Liberty has said that the founders and team members cannot currently sell their own tokens. Trump and his family have a majority ownership stake in World Liberty Financial that entitles them to 75 percent of earnings from their first coin, $WLFI, released last September, according to the company’s website. The venture was helped along by some with interests before the Trump administration. Two of its co-founders, crypto entrepreneurs Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, were replaced as the controlling parties of World Liberty by an entity in which the Trump family holds a 60 percent stake. Trump has been transparent about his desire to make America the 'crypto capital of the planet.' He promised to be the 'crypto president,' who will popularize its mainstream use in America, despite once being a crypto skeptic himself who described bitcoin as a 'scam.' Trump has said he backs crypto because it can improve the banking system and increase the dominance of the US dollar. Proving the family's commitment to the sector, Trump and Melania even launched two separate meme coins on Inauguration day. Trump's $Trump earned more than $100million in January alone before it crashed. Similarly, early takers of Melania's meme coin stood to make millions before it plummeted. At the same time the Trump family, long known for skyscrapers and country clubs, rapidly gained hundreds of millions of dollars through their crypto investments. The Trump Organization announced in January that the president's investments, assets and business interests would be held in a trust managed by his children and he would play no role in day-to-day operations or decision-making. The family's business also retained an attorney to serve as an ethics adviser to 'avoid any perceived conflicts of interest.
