O'DONNELL: Why did you pardon Changpeng Zhao?
TRUMP: Are you ready? I don't know who he is
O'DONNELL: His crypto exchange Binance helped facilitate a $2b purchase of World Liberty Financial's stablecoin. And they you pardoned him.
TRUMP: Here's the thing — I know nothing… pic.twitter.com/rJFXsJ2VvF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 3, 2025
ABU DHABI—Changpeng Zhao, crypto’s richest man, flew home from a California jail a year ago to recuperate in a secluded neighborhood of $30 million villas on a white-sand island here. He worked on his kite-surfing, caught up with friends in beachside clubs and kept his 100-foot yacht, Da Moon, moored nearby.
Despite his freedom, all wasn’t well. Binance, Zhao’s crypto exchange—owned by a felon and shackled by U.S. authorities—was struggling. Its new overseers were turning the screws to eliminate the practices that had made it a giant money-laundering mill. Binance’s top legal staff were certain the company was doomed.