President Trump Appears on Michael Cohen Radio Show After Reconciliation
FlatRigor 5615 sources
The Story
President Donald Trump appeared Thursday on the radio show of Michael Cohen, his former fixer-turned-foe, in a public reunion. The interview, part of which aired Thursday evening on Cohen's program on 77 WABC-AM in New York, will air in full on Sunday. During the interview, Trump told Cohen, "They weaponized you like nobody's ever been weaponized, like few have been." Trump added, "I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said. That's a big thing that you did." Cohen, who served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Trump's dirty deeds, called Trump boss and sir during the interview. He delivered a six-minute monologue on friendship and forgiveness, quoting a Bible verse and playing the song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Cohen told CNN shortly before the radio interview that he had resubmitted a pardon application to the White House, which had been denied by the previous administration. He stated he had not yet received an acknowledgment of the application. Cohen was by Trump's side during his political rise and once boasted he would take a bullet for the president. After their public breakup, Cohen's testimony in Trump's 2024 criminal hush money trial helped secure Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsification of business records related to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for the hush payment and other crimes, serving more than a year. In 2019, Cohen testified to Congress, calling Trump a racist, a con man and a cheat. The truce with Cohen makes him the latest in a line of Trump loyalists who have had public fallings-out but returned to his good graces, including Elon Musk and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Cohen told NBC News before the interview that Trump said things he had never heard before. Cohen stated on his show that reconciliation doesn’t mean surrendering your principles or rewriting facts. It simply means deciding that your story doesn’t have to end in its worst chapter.
The Spread
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What they agree on
- President Donald Trump appeared on Michael Cohen's radio show on Thursday, marking a public reunion between the two.
- Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, served prison time for actions he attributed to "blind loyalty" to Trump and testified against him in court and Congress.
- Trump was convicted in 2024 on 34 counts of falsification of business records, partly due to Cohen's testimony regarding a $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels.
- During the radio interview, Trump stated he respected Cohen for "recanting everything" he had said.
- Cohen confirmed he has resubmitted a pardon application to the White House.
Where they split
- The Daily Beast and The Guardian Australia frame Cohen's interview as an "embarrassing display of sycophancy" and "fawning, deferential, oleaginous," while CBS News and AP News describe it more neutrally as a "stunning public reunion" or a "detente."
- Mediaite highlights Cohen's refusal to address past criticisms of Trump when asked by Jake Tapper if he still considered Trump a "racist and a conman," a detail not emphasized by all other outlets.
- Reuters and The Straits Times connect the interview to Trump seeking political allies ahead of the November midterm elections, a motivation not explicitly stated in all US-focused reports.
- The New York Sun leads with Cohen teasing the interview and playing a clip of him calling Trump "Sir" and "Boss," focusing on the promotional aspect, while other outlets focus more on the content of the interview and the history between the two.
Source Perspectives
Left7 sources
Right2 sources