CBS Deletes Trump's Crypto Corruption Outburst from Edited "60 Minutes" Interview

Scenes Deleted from the Televised and Extended Interview

Trump's Reaction Deleted: CBS removed former President Donald Trump's angry reaction to questions about corruption in cryptocurrencies from both the televised and extended online versions of his 60 Minutes interview. This deletion came despite the network releasing a full transcript of the interview.

CBS aired a 28-minute version of Trump's interview on television, then released a 73-minute extended version online, which was also shared by the White House's RapidResponse 47 account. Neither version included the moment Trump lost his composure when asked about the billionaire he pardoned after a $2 billion cryptocurrency deal with the Trump family.

The MAGA social media account claimed that the broadcast interview was "complete" and "without network edits and deletions." Meanwhile, an editor's note on the "60 Minutes Overtime" YouTube upload of the extended version indicated it was "condensed for clarity."

Tense Exchange: However, the full tense exchange about crypto corruption with anchor Nora O'Donnell, which can be seen in the interview transcript on the "60 Minutes Overtime" website, did not appear in either visual version, whether televised or extended online.

CBS also deleted Trump's suggestion to cut a portion of the interview where the President boasted about payments his parent company made to him earlier this year. Trump said, "In fact, 60 Minutes paid me a lot of money. And you don't have to put this in, because I don't want to embarrass you." This comment did not appear in any of the video clips.

At the end of the interview conducted at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, O'Donnell asked Trump if she could ask two more questions. During the interview, O'Donnell repeatedly mentioned being aware of the time factor and sometimes interrupted some of Trump's lengthy answers.

"That means they'll treat me more fairly if I do that," said Trump (79), according to the CBS transcript. "I want to get... now good. Okay. Oh, these might be the questions I didn't want. I don't know. Well, go ahead."

Controversy Over Trump's Pardon of "CZ" and His Financial Ties

O'Donnell's Question About the Pardon: O'Donnell (51) then asked Trump about the people he pardoned, focusing on cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, who was released from prison in September after pleading guilty to money laundering violations.

Portions of Trump's answers were included in the abbreviated version of the interview broadcast on television. "60 Minutes" averaged slightly over 8.5 million TV viewers last season.

The moment where the President claimed he "didn't know" who the man he pardoned was - before immediately contradicting himself - was included, but his subsequent outburst was not.

"I don't know who he is," Trump can be seen claiming about CZ. "I know he got a four-month prison sentence or something, and I heard it was a Biden witch hunt."

CZ's Fortune: CZ amassed his fortune as the founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. The Wall Street Journal claimed that CZ had previously struck a $2 billion deal with the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.

Details About World Liberty Financial and the Cryptocurrency Deal

World Liberty Financial (WLFI): World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol and cryptocurrency company founded in 2024, known for promoting its direct relationship with Donald Trump and his family. A New York Times investigation described it as "blurring the lines between private enterprises and government policy in a way unprecedented in modern American history" (Wikipedia). Donald Trump personally made hundreds of millions of dollars from this company, and the Trump family controls approximately 40% of World Liberty Financial, with a Trump business entity owning 60% of the company and entitled to 75% of cryptocurrency sales revenue. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are also actively involved in its management (Wikipedia).

Launch of USD1 and MGX Deal: In March 2025, World Liberty Financial launched its USD1 stablecoin, backed by the US dollar, government securities, and other cash equivalents (Wikipedia, Fortune). In May 2025, MGX, an Emirati company backed by Abu Dhabi, announced the use of $2 billion of USD1 stablecoin to fund a deal with the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. This agreement drew widespread criticism from government ethics experts due to potential conflicts of interest (Wikipedia, Fortune). Investigations indicate that an anonymous crypto wallet containing $2 billion in USD1 received the funds between April 16 and April 29, 2025 (Wikipedia).

It is worth noting that Eric Trump and Zack Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty Financial, announced this agreement at a crypto conference in Dubai on May 1, 2025 (Wired). Should Binance hold USD1, World Liberty Financial could earn a return from the underlying reserves, potentially reaching $80 million annually (Fortune). Shortly after Sheikh Tahnoon's investment in World Liberty Financial, the Trump administration approved a plan allowing a subsidiary of the Sheikh's company to receive hundreds of thousands of advanced and rare computer chips, despite national security concerns that these chips could reach China (Wikipedia, published on September 15, 2025).

In the broadcast interview, O'Donnell asked Trump: "How do you address the appearance of pay-to-play?" He replied: "Well, that's the thing, I don't know anything about..."

Suspicion of Pay-to-Play: However, when O'Donnell again asked if Trump was "concerned about the appearance of corruption" due to CZ's pardon because of his ties to his family, the transcript revealed that the President became agitated. The "pay-to-play" suspicions in this context mean that the presidential pardon of CZ may be linked to financial gains or business deals made by the Trump family and World Liberty Financial with entities associated with CZ or Binance.

"I can't say, because I - I can't say - I'm not concerned. I don't want you to ask that question. But I let you ask it. You came to me and said, 'Can I ask one more question?' And I said, yes. This is the question..."

O'Donnell interrupted to say "And you answered -" while the President continued to say: "I don't mind. Did I let you? I could have left. I didn't have to answer that question. I am proud to answer the question. You know why? We took cryptocurrency -"

O'Donnell interrupted Trump, likely to repeat her question, and Trump said "Sorry..." before continuing his presidential endorsement of cryptocurrency without directly addressing the corruption angle.

America's Standing in Cryptocurrency: "We are number 1 in cryptocurrency in the whole world," Trump said. "Other people want to be. They are fighting hard to be. But we are number 1 in cryptocurrency because I am the President... We are number 1 in cryptocurrency and that's the only thing I care about. I don't want China or anyone else to take it. It's a huge industry."

60 Minutes also did not broadcast on television the moment Trump boasted about winning a $16 million lawsuit against Paramount, CBS's parent company, over what the President believed was a deceptive editing of a Kamala Harris interview. Trump had sued for $20 billion, alleging that the Harris interview was edited "to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party" before the election. The case was settled in July.

Lawsuit Settlement and Its Impact on Interview Transparency

Settlement Details: The case was settled in July, before Paramount needed FCC approval for its $8 billion merger with media company Skydance. As part of the Paramount settlement, while they were not required to apologize to Trump, they agreed that "in the future, 60 Minutes will release transcripts of interviews with eligible US presidential candidates after these interviews are broadcast, subject to deletions required for legal or national security reasons." This agreement reflects a growing commitment to transparency in media reporting related to prominent political figures (Original Article).

Trump did not mention Harris by name on Sunday, but he said: "The press supported her. Oh, they supported her so much. But she, in the end, failed because she couldn't talk. She wasn't a very smart person, in my opinion. But she couldn't talk properly. She couldn't talk."

The President then noted: "And in fact, 60 Minutes paid me a lot of money. And you don't have to put this in, because I don't want to embarrass you."

Apparently referring to CBS's new "MAGA-interested" editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, he continued: "I think you have a great new leader, frankly, the young woman running your whole project is a great person - from what I know. I don't know her, but I hear she's a fantastic person."

He added: "But 60 Minutes was forced to pay me - a lot of money because they removed her answer that was very bad, it was changing the election, two nights before the election. And they put in a new answer. And they paid me a lot of money for that. You cannot have fake news. You must have legitimate news. And I think that's happening."

As part of the Paramount settlement, while they were not required to apologize to Trump, they agreed that "in the future, 60 Minutes will release transcripts of interviews with eligible US presidential candidates after these interviews are broadcast, subject to deletions required for legal or national security reasons."