In a preview clip released Thursday from an upcoming radio interview, President Trump told his former personal attorney Michael Cohen that he was “forced” to testify against him in the 2024 New York hush money trial, framing the prosecution as an abuse of government power.
“They weaponized government against you and against others, Michael. There were plenty of others too, and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said in the clip, which will air in full on Cohen’s WABC show on Sunday. “I think it’s so amazing that you came out and you told the story, and people respect you for doing it.”
The exchange marks a striking thaw in a relationship that has been defined by years of public acrimony, stemming from Cohen’s 2018 guilty plea in Manhattan federal court to eight criminal counts tied to a scheme to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump. Cohen later became the star witness in Trump’s criminal trial, where the president was convicted in 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen has previously claimed he was pressured by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to deliver testimony against his former boss. In a Substack post earlier this year, he wrote: “I felt compelled and coerced to deliver what they were seeking. Letitia James and Alvin Bragg may not share the same office, but they share the same playbook.”
In other segments of the conversation shared by WABC, Trump defended his administration’s military operations in Iran and pushed back on unfavorable approval ratings. “I think that we’re doing really well in the polls — the real polls,” he said. “If I were running today, I think I’d win by 25 points. I think we’d win by a lot.”
Cohen described his relationship with Trump as being “resuscitated” in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper ahead of the clip’s release. “I truly believe that there is forgiveness between Donald Trump and myself, and that to me is what is important right now,” Cohen said.
Cohen also told CNN that he has submitted a pardon application during Trump’s second term but has not directly asked the president about it. He said he has not yet received confirmation that the White House has received his application and plans to follow up on Friday. This development comes as Trump has continued to wield his clemency power, and it adds a new dimension to the reconciliation between the two men.
The interview is the latest in a series of high-profile media appearances by Trump, who has also been touting renovations at the White House and defending his executive actions amid legal challenges. His administration has faced scrutiny over the scope of executive orders, with some critics arguing they test the limits of presidential authority.
