Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer,” said Thursday he and the president had buried the hatchet after more than a decade of a dramatic falling out between the pair that included testimony against Trump in court and Cohen serving a prison sentence.
Now, Cohen marketed a conversation between himself and his former boss as a “reconciliation” and stated that he can’t change the past but wants to look toward the future.
Cohen interviewed Trump early Thursday for his radio show, announcing the appearance just a few days prior. Part of the interview aired on 77WBAC Thursday evening and the full interview will be available Sunday.
He faced some pushback from people on his Substack announcement, addressing it in a lengthy post titled “The Impossible Reunion.”
“The answer is actually much simpler than people want it to be. We forgave. Not because the past didn’t happen,” he wrote, adding, “Forgiveness doesn’t require amnesia. It requires the courage to stop allowing yesterday to dictate tomorrow.”
Cohen-Trump fallout explained
Cohen and Trump became friends in the early 2000s when he bought a condo in the Trump World Tower. He was hired as the then-businessman’s personal attorney and special counsel.
For over a decade, Cohen worked as a devoted lawyer and Trump’s “fixer” who famously was dubbed a “pit bull” and said he’d take a bullet for Trump. He was also supportive of Trump running for president.
Cohen was later caught in the crosshairs of multiple investigations, including lying to Congress about a Trump business project in Russia and making secret payments to women who claimed they had affairs with Trump.
He pleaded guilty in 2018 and served a three-year prison sentence. Cohen, at the time, appeared to have flipped on Trump, saying he was weakened by his “blind loyalty.”
Trump denied any wrongdoing and criticized Cohen. The two traded insults consistently.
In 2019, before going to prison, Cohen testified before Congress about Trump’s business practices and claimed Trump inflated his assets “when it served his purposes.” He also told lawmakers that while serving as Trump’s attorney he’d made as many as 500 threats, either through litigation or other avenues, to help Trump.
The claims led New York Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation into the Trump Organization over claims that Trump told Cohen to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Cohen testified at both trials, which led to the Trump Organization being ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars and a guilty verdict of falsifying business records.
James’ legal actions were criticized by some as an example of political lawfare, after she ran on a promise to go after the then-former president.
Since helping James, Cohen said he felt coerced during the trials and confirmed to multiple outlets that he and Trump had met in person twice since last year.
Cohen acknowledges difficult past
Cohen, who appeared on CNN shortly before part of his interview with Trump was made available to the public, said the president “made news on multiple different fronts,” including on the ongoing war with Iran.
He acknowledged to CNN’s Jake Tapper that obviously people are wondering how the two could ever sit for a civil interview after all they have been through.
“The answer is that we forgave, and not because the past didn’t happen, not because the scars disappeared, not because every disagreement suddenly becomes irrelevant, and certainly not because I have forgotten anything. I have not,” he said.
Cohen said his relationship with the president as it stands was “being resuscitated.” He was asked whether he stands by what he previously said under oath but declined to discuss what was said in the past.
“I refuse to be pulled back into yesterday’s news and yesterday’s headlines so that a slew of people can turn around and start to try to pull it apart,” Cohen said. “I truly believe that there is forgiveness between Donald Trump and myself.”
He said so far, he hasn’t asked Trump for a pardon for his past crimes, but confirmed he sent a pardon application to former President Joe Biden and will be doing the same to Trump.
Cohen wouldn’t confirm to Tapper that Trump explicitly apologized, but said he was “very comfortable” with the words exchanged between the two. He dismissed the notion that some people would be critical of the rekindling and said he didn’t care if some people thought he was an opportunist.
What was said in the interview?
Cohen only released a portion of the interview with the president on the radio show’s website Thursday and said the full interview will be available Sunday.
Cohen went live on Substack after the interview, confirming he put in a pardon request to the president and the interview ended up being about 40 minutes.
The president reiterated many of his usual talking points, talking about the Iran war and how the Iranian regime couldn’t have a nuclear weapon, how his tariffs and administration are bringing back manufacturing to the United States, including chip manufacturing and medicine, the border and former Vice President Kamala Harris’ role as “border czar,” and his polling numbers.
Cohen began the interview, taking them back a decade when their conflict began. “You and I have obviously traveled a pretty rocky road together,” he said.
Trump jumped in to say that people “weaponized” Cohen “like nobody’s ever been weaponized, like few have been.”
“Well, maybe just you and I, sir,” Cohen said.
“Yeah, me too. But I don’t consider mine. You know, mine was at a level that nobody’s ever seen before. But they weaponized you. They weaponized a lot of people, and I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said ... that’s a big thing you did,” Trump replied.
They went on to discuss the war with Iran, capturing Venezuela’s president, the border and stopping illegal immigration. Trump argued that he doesn’t get enough praise for his accomplishments and Cohen suggested holding a press conference that “literally puts out all of the accomplishments.”
“Because what’s happening, boss? You remember when I was by your side? I literally used to analyze the polls, right? And you remember how much attention that I used to pay to that methodology, I would come in, I would say to you, ‘Oh, you know, they’re claiming that you’re at 31%, that you’re underwater,’” Cohen said.
“The polls are crooked,” Trump interjected.
“Exactly,” Cohen replied.
Trump went on to say that the polls are inaccurate and don’t reflect the manufacturing that is being brought back to the country.
The interview cut off there, but more is expected between the former friends-turned-foes come Sunday.