Close
MyNorthwest
News
Opinion
Sports
Tools
Connect

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao

Oct 23, 2025, 8:41 AM | Updated: 2:14 pm

Associated Press's Profile Picture

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time after failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Zhao had asked Trump for a pardon previously.

He has deep ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that the Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. launched in September.

Trump’s most recent has launched USD1, a stablecoin pegged at a 1-to-1 ratio to the U.S. dollar.

World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates would be using $2 billion worth of USD1 to purchase a stake in Binance. Zhao also has publicly said that he had asked Trump for a pardon that could nullify his conviction.

National News

Homeland Security Investigations task force officers escort a suspect accused of illegally register...

Associated Press

Stolen election rhetoric from Trump isn’t new. His ability to act on those claims is

Democrats, election officials and voting rights groups have long wondered whether President Donald Trump, upon his return to the Oval Office, would again attempt to overturn an election when his party is trailing. It’s no longer hypothetical. Late last week, the president directed the Department of Justice to preemptively contest a potential Republican loss in […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Hometown of ‘Addams Family’ creator becomes ghoulish Halloween destination

WESTFIELD, N.J. (AP) — Before there was “The Addams Family,” there was Westfield. Cartoonist Charles Addams, who created the eccentric, fictional family, drew inspiration for his signature macabre style from the elegant Victorian homes, historic cemetery and other landmarks of his New Jersey hometown. Today the affluent community, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Migrants congregate on the banks of the Rio Grande at the U.S. border with Mexico on Dec. 20...

Associated Press

How Trump’s immigration crackdown sparked a backlash that could boomerang in the midterms

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Donald Trump was running for president two years ago, Americans’ television screens were filled with images of migrant chaos. There were tent camps on both sides of the border, caravans of people trudging through Central America and concerns about newcomers overwhelming social services. That turmoil faded as President Joe Biden tightened […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Labor leader and co-founder of United Farm Workers Dolores Huerta listens to President Barac...

Associated Press

Worker rights pioneer Dolores Huerta wanted others to feel seen

Dolores Huerta had spent decades advocating for labor rights and marginalized people when she went to a central California college and met a group of farmworkers’ descendants — many of them students who choked back tears over the then-94-year-old taking the time to listen to them. That was the effect Huerta had on young people, […]

3 hours ago

Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras celebrates after scoring during the sixth inning of Game 5 of ...

Associated Press

Brewers beat the Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win the first World Series title in franchise history

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The small-ball Milwaukee Brewers playing in the smallest market in the majors are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history. Hey, Milwaukee: grab a brat, raise a beer and prepare for that parade. Young ace Jacob Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball, rookie Cooper […]

4 hours ago

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defe...

Associated Press

Hegseth fires the Pentagon’s top military planner even as Trump considers new Iran strikes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon’s top military planner, a defense official said Wednesday, the latest in a series of generals to be ousted and one that comes even as President Donald Trump is weighing renewed strikes on Iran in the eight-month-long war. Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia was removed […]

4 hours ago

Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao