Trump and Former Fixer Michael Cohen Reconcile in Radio Interview

Coverage spread: 4 sources — 2 left · 1 center · 1 right

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Where they agree

Trump gave a surprise phone interview to Michael Cohen on Cohen’s WABC radio show, their first public conversation in nearly a decade.
Trump said Cohen had been “weaponized” and praised him for having “recanted everything” he previously said against him.
The interview marks a dramatic reversal from Cohen’s past role as a star witness against Trump and his sworn testimony calling Trump a “racist, a con man and a cheat.”
Cohen has applied for a presidential pardon after Biden previously denied his clemency request.

Where they differ

The Guardian frames the interview critically, calling it “fawning” and “sycophantic” and noting Cohen never actually retracted his prior statements despite Trump’s claim that he did.
Fox News emphasizes the portions where Trump and Cohen jointly criticized CNN and The New York Times over polling coverage.
NBC News and The Hill present the reconciliation more neutrally, focusing on the “weaponized” exchange without added commentary on sincerity.
The Guardian alone places Cohen’s turnaround in the context of other former Trump critics (Bannon, Cruz, DeSantis, Vance) who have similarly reconciled with him.

President Donald Trump gave a surprise phone interview to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer turned star witness against him, on Cohen’s WABC radio show “When You Know, You Know,” marking their first public conversation in nearly a decade. The two, who had spent years trading insults, adopted a warm tone, with Cohen calling Trump “boss” and “sir” while Trump praised Cohen for having “recanted everything” he’d said about him.

What did Trump and Cohen actually say to each other?

Cohen opened by revisiting his viral 2016 CNN moment, when host Brianna Keilar told him Trump was underwater in the polls and Cohen shot back “says who.” Trump responded that Cohen had been “weaponized… like nobody’s ever been weaponized, like few have been,” to which Cohen replied, “Well, maybe just you and I, sir.” Trump agreed, adding, “They weaponized you. They weaponized a lot of people. And I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said, and that’s a big, that’s a big thing that you did.” Trump also suggested Cohen had effectively been “forced” to testify against him in the 2024 hush-money trial, calling the government’s use of his testimony “a disgrace.” Beyond the reconciliation talk, Trump used the platform to criticize CNN and The New York Times as “dishonest,” defend his handling of the Iran conflict, and repeat familiar campaign-style attacks on Democrats and the media’s polling.

How did Cohen explain the turnaround?

Cohen quoted a Bible verse on forgiveness and played the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” during the show, while largely steering clear of their past clashes. He told listeners that “the good memories don’t cease to exist simply because terrible ones followed them,” and that “reconciliation doesn’t mean surrendering your principles or rewriting facts.” Pressed on CNN earlier the same day about whether he was retracting his past statements, Cohen said, “What was said is said, and that’s where I stand with it” — a position notably softer than Trump’s claim that Cohen had “recanted everything.” Cohen also confirmed he has applied for a presidential pardon, after an earlier clemency request was denied by Joe Biden.

What is the history between them?

Cohen spent over a decade as Trump’s lawyer and self-described “fixer,” once saying he’d “take a bullet” for his boss. The relationship collapsed in 2018 when Cohen was caught up in investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York. He pleaded guilty to a range of crimes — including arranging a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, lying to Congress about Trump’s Russia dealings, and tax and bank fraud — and served over a year in prison plus home confinement. He was later the star witness in Trump’s 2024 New York criminal trial, which ended in Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. In sworn congressional testimony, Cohen had called Trump a “racist, a con man and a cheat.” Since Trump’s return to office, Cohen’s public stance had already begun softening; last January he said he’d felt “pressured and coerced” by prosecutors during the hush-money trial.

How is the interview being covered differently?

NBC News and The Hill frame the exchange straightforwardly as a reconciliation, emphasizing the “weaponized” language and Trump’s praise of Cohen. Fox News highlights the media-bashing portions, giving extended space to Trump and Cohen’s joint criticism of CNN and The New York Times over polling coverage. The Guardian’s coverage is the most skeptical in tone, describing the interview as strikingly deferential and pointing out that Cohen’s actual public statements — insisting “what was said is said” — don’t fully match Trump’s claim that he “recanted everything.” The Guardian also situates Cohen within a broader pattern of Trump critics, including Steve Bannon, Ted Cruz, and JD Vance, who have publicly reversed course after previously denouncing him, and notes Cohen’s pending pardon application as a possible motive.

What happens next?

The full interview is set to air in two parts, with the remainder airing at 5 p.m. ET Sunday on Cohen’s WABC show. Cohen told NBC News before broadcast that Trump said things to him “I have never heard before” and that “people will be shocked when they hear it,” suggesting more details or exchanges have yet to be made public.

Sources

Featured photo: Jay Dixit via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)