Part of President Donald Trump’s testy response to questions about his pardon of a cryptocurrency billionaire during a “60 Minutes” interview was cut from the program’s final edit. After the television interview aired, CBS released a 73-minute extended version of the interview online.
The Trump-aligned White House Rapid Response 47 account on X claimed this extended cut was the “FULL” interview, “without edits and cuts.”
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However, a CBS editor’s note on the YouTube upload of the extended cut explains that the longer interview was still “condensed for clarity.”
The full written transcript on the “60 Minutes Overtime” site also shows a tense exchange over a crypto currency controversy did not make it into any online video version of the interview.
Controversial pardon of ex-Binance CEO
As the interview concluded at Mar-a-Lago Friday, CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell asked the president if he would answer two more questions, to which Trump agreed.
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Presidential pardons remove legal barriers to jobs and housing, but do not remove court requirements such as sex offender registration.
O’Donnell then asked Trump about pardon recipients, including Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who pleaded guilty to charges associated with money laundering. He was released from jail last month.
A portion of the president’s answer made it into the shortened version of the interview, including when Trump claimed he didn’t know who Zhao was.
“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.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Zhao made billions as the founder of crypto exchange firm Binance, and his company reportedly made a $2 billion deal with the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.
In the published video interview, O’Donnell asked Trump, “How do you address the appearance of pay for play?”
Trump replied: “Well, here’s the thing, I know nothing about it…”
But transcripts released following the airing of the interview show that when O’Donnell asked the president if he was “concerned about the appearance of corruption” because of his family’s connection to the Binance co-founder, Trump became agitated by the questioning.
“I can’t say, because — I can’t say — I’m not concerned. I don’t — I’d rather not have you ask the question,” Trump said. “But I let you ask it. You just came to me and said, ‘Can I ask another question?’ And I said, yeah. This is the question.”
According to the transcript, O’Donnell said: “And you answered.”
Trump continued: “I don’t mind. Did I let you do it? I coulda walked away. I didn’t have to answer this question. I’m proud to answer the question. You know why? We’ve taken crypto… We’re number one in crypto in the whole world. Other people wanna be. They’re fighting like hello to be. But we’re number one in crypto because I’m the president. … We are number one in crypto and that’s the only thing I care about. I don’t want China or anybody else to take it away. It’s a massive industry.”
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Trump bragged about $16 million settlement
In the transcript of comments unaired by CBS, Trump also touted the $16 million he received from Paramount to settle a lawsuit in which he claimed “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.
“And actually ‘60 Minutes’ paid me a lotta money,” the transcript of Trump’s comments reads. “And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t want to embarrass you.”
The president also applauded new CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as “a great, new leader.”
“You’ve got to have legit news,” he said. “And I think that it’s happening.”
Neither CBS nor the White House have not commented on the transcript.
