Donald Trump sat down with his former “fixer” Michael Cohen on 77 WABC‑AM, delivering a surprisingly warm interview that shocked political observers.
Radio Reunion Turns Friendly
The sit‑down aired Thursday evening and was part of Cohen’s show, which is filling in for Andrew Cuomo this summer, a switch approved by station owner John Catsimatidis after a White House “no objection” signal.
Catsimatidis told the New York Post that Trump “expressed empathy” for Cohen, a striking reversal after years of public hostility.
On air, Trump told Cohen, “They weaponized you like nobody’s ever been weaponized… I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said. That’s a big thing you did.”
Pardon Application Resubmission
In a separate interview with CNN, Cohen said he had resubmitted a pardon request to the White House, rewriting the cover letter to replace President Joe Biden’s name with President Donald Trump’s.
“I have a receipt,” Cohen told CNN, indicating he possessed proof of the resubmission.
Cohen’s Public Turnaround
Cohen framed his change of heart as forgiveness in a Substack post, writing, “Forgiveness does not mean amnesia; it is about having the courage to decide that yesterday will no longer dictate tomorrow.”
He added that prosecutors pressured him to provide testimony that would secure convictions against Trump, a claim he made in January.
Political Context and Allies
Cohen is the latest Trump ally to publicly reconcile after a break, following Elon Musk and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, both of whom have flirted with criticism and then returned to the former president’s orbit.
Trump never praised Cohen publicly before Thursday, despite linking to Cohen’s recent comments about prosecutorial pressure, which Cohen has spent the past year condemning.
Legal filings show Cohen faces a 34‑count felony conviction for falsifying business records to influence the 2024 election; the conviction carries no additional punishment.
