- Trump told 60 Minutes he aims to keep the U.S. the global leader in crypto and AI.
- He defended pardoning Binance founder CZ and Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht, calling their cases “Biden witch hunts.”
- The Trump family’s crypto ventures are reportedly worth over $1 billion, fueling questions about influence and ethics.
U.S. President Donald Trump sat down for a lengthy 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night, and near the end of it, the conversation turned—unsurprisingly—to crypto. What followed was a fiery defense of his policies and a bold claim that America’s dominance in digital assets rests entirely on his leadership.
“We’re number one in crypto in the whole world,” Trump said to CBS’s Norah O’Donnell during the 90-minute broadcast. “Other people wanna be. They’re fighting like hell to be. But we’re number one in crypto because I’m the president.”
He added, “I don’t want China or anybody else to take it away. It’s a massive industry.”
Trump’s Vision: “Make Crypto Great for America”
Trump used the moment to take a jab at his predecessor, Joe Biden, saying the former president “flipped his tune” on crypto too late in his campaign. According to Trump, Biden’s last-minute embrace of digital assets was “a desperate move for votes” that didn’t pay off.
“It didn’t work,” Trump said bluntly. “They voted for me. I wanna make crypto great for America—because in crypto, it’s the kind of industry where you’re either number one, or you’re not even in the game.”
Interestingly, Trump wasn’t always pro-crypto. Back in 2024, he made a public pivot, and since then, his family has gone all-in. His sons—Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron—are all reportedly involved in the digital asset space. The Financial Times even estimated that the Trump family has earned over $1 billion from various crypto ventures, ranging from Bitcoin mining to memecoins.
Executive Orders and Crypto Pardons
Since returning to office, Trump has wasted no time embedding crypto deeper into U.S. policy. Early on, he signed several executive orders—one to create a working group for digital asset policy, and another to establish a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile.
Under his administration, the SEC has taken a softer stance, dropping lawsuits against several major players including Coinbase, Gemini, OpenSea, and Uniswap.
He’s also leaned heavily into controversial clemency decisions. Trump granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road who was serving multiple life sentences. And just last month, he pardoned Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who had pleaded guilty in 2023 for failing to maintain proper anti-money laundering controls. Zhao served four months in prison before his release in 2024.
When asked about the pardon, Trump brushed off criticism. “Okay, are you ready?” he said. “I don’t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”
Corruption Questions Surface
The pardon hasn’t been without controversy. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported that World Liberty Financial (WLFI)—a Trump-linked financial platform—had been in talks to buy a stake in Binance.US just weeks before Zhao’s pardon. World Liberty called the report “politically motivated.”
About six weeks later, Abu Dhabi–based MGX announced plans to use World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin in a $2 billion deal with Binance. The timing raised eyebrows, leading O’Donnell to press Trump on whether he was worried about how that looked.
“I can’t say, because—I can’t say—I’m not concerned,” Trump replied, pausing. “We’re number one in crypto in the whole world. Other people wanna be. They’re fighting like hell to be. But we’re number one because I’m the president.”
Meanwhile, the political fallout from CZ’s pardon continues. Zhao’s legal team has reportedly demanded an immediate retraction from Senator Elizabeth Warren over comments she made after his release, and sources say a libel lawsuitis being considered.
Trump’s Takeaway
In the end, Trump circled back to the same message that’s now become part of his campaign mantra: America must dominate in crypto. “We’re number one,” he said again. “And that’s the only thing I care about.”
