From Trump, With Impunity

Oct 31, 2025

Jonah Valdez, an Intercept reporter focused on Gaza, shares firsthand accounts revealing that the ceasefire is essentially defunct, with ongoing Israeli airstrikes provoking widespread despair among civilians. He emphasizes the Palestinians' struggle for survival amidst systematic violence. Matt Sledge, covering U.S. politics and finance, delves into the implications of a controversial Binance pardon linked to the Trump family, raising concerns about quid pro quo arrangements. Together, they explore the intersection of geopolitics and domestic interests in a turbulent climate.

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INSIGHT

Ceasefire As Political Win For Trump

Trump benefits politically by declaring the ceasefire a foreign policy win and wants the appearance to hold.
Valdez links that appearance to personal and geopolitical financial interests tied to normalization efforts.

ANECDOTE

CZ's Guilty Plea And Short Prison Term

Matt Sledge recounts Binance founder Changpeng Zhao's guilty plea and four-month prison term under a deal that still left a felony on his record.
He explains the pardon clears legal obstacles for Binance to re-enter the U.S. market.

INSIGHT

Pardon Reopens U.S. Market For Binance

The pardon likely reopens U.S. business for Binance, a huge commercial benefit for the company.
Matt notes that Binance became the biggest customer of the Trump family's World Liberty Financial earlier this year.

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Once again, Israeli bombs rained down on Gaza. The latest wave of strikes killed more than 100 people, mostly women and children, according to health authorities.

The bombardment marked the deadliest day since the weeks-old U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on October 10 — a ceasefire Israel has repeatedly broken with impunity.

“As the Trump administration likes to say, the ceasefire is still in place. And the media has parroted that as well. But an overwhelming amount of people that we spoke to on the ground are saying that there is no ceasefire with killings being at this rate. This is a continuation of the genocide,” says Intercept reporter Jonah Valdez. Palestinians “have a very crystal-clear view of Israel's policy and their goal of wanting mass expulsion from Gaza. ... Those who are surviving it and living it are seeing through the propaganda that the ceasefire is still in place.”

On The Intercept Briefing, Valdez joins host Jordan Uhl and reporter Matt Sledge to explain why President Donald Trump “has a lot to gain from continuing to tell the public that there is a ceasefire” and to discuss the news stories published on The Intercept this week.

“It's important to mention this layer of hope that exists. No one wants to call the ceasefire dead prematurely because if it surviving allows for other Palestinians and Gaza to survive,” Valdez adds, “then, you know, of course they have vested interest in seeing the truce live on.”

And back in the United States, Trump’s pay-to-play approach to running the government continues unabated. Trump recently pardoned the billionaire crypto king, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whose company has done business benefiting the Trump family.

“Binance overnight became the biggest customer of the Trump family venture, which is called World Liberty Financial,” Sledge points out. “I think a lot of skeptics out there are saying, like, ‘Boy, this sure just looks exactly like pay to play, like quid pro quo.’”

Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

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