Trump and Michael Cohen reconcile in radio interview

Aug 20, 2026

President Donald Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen have publicly reconciled, holding a 40-minute conversation on Cohen's WABC radio show on August 20, 2026. The exchange marks their first public contact in eight years following a bitter feud. Cohen, who served prison time for 2018 campaign finance violations and testified as the star witness in Trump's 2024 hush-money conviction, stated that the two men have forgiven each other. Trump expressed respect for Cohen recanting his previous statements, while Cohen has adapted a prior pardon application to target the Trump administration.

Trump-Cohen radio reconciliation

▪Michael Cohen stated that he and Donald Trump forgave each other, describing their 40-minute conversation as phenomenal and their relationship as being resuscitated.
▪Donald Trump expressed respect during the radio interview for the fact that Michael Cohen recanted everything he had previously said.
▪Donald Trump appeared on Michael Cohen's radio program and podcast, When You Know You Know, on August 20, 2026, marking their first public exchange in eight years.
▪Michael Cohen and Donald Trump met in private three times over the past year, including at Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Cohen's criminal conviction

▪Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress.
▪Michael Cohen's 2018 conviction involved facilitating a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Cohen's testimony against Trump

▪Michael Cohen previously delivered scathing testimony to Congress in 2019 and published a 2020 memoir, Disloyal, characterizing Donald Trump as a racist, con man, and cheat.
▪Michael Cohen served as the star prosecution witness in the 2024 New York criminal trial where Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
▪Michael Cohen claimed that New York prosecutors, including Attorney General Letitia James and District Attorney Alvin Bragg, pressured and coerced him into testifying against Donald Trump.

Pardon speculation

▪Michael Cohen declined to confirm or deny to Politico whether he would formally request presidential clemency from Donald Trump for his 2018 conviction.
▪Michael Cohen stated he has not asked Donald Trump for a pardon but modified a previous pardon application submitted to Joe Biden to address it to Donald Trump instead.

Media reactions

▪Commentator Brian Krassenstein posted on social media that Michael Cohen is a liar who interviewed Donald Trump after recanting what he had previously said under oath.
▪Commentator Mehdi Hasan criticized Michael Cohen on social media, calling the reconciliation ridiculous and stating that Cohen had conned liberals with a fake conversion.