USA19 August, 20262 min read
Michael Cohen Interviews President Donald Trump on WABC Radio After Stormy Daniels Payments Admission
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Trump will join Michael Cohen on 77 WABC for a near-decade first public interview. Cohen admitted facilitating payments to Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair in 2016.
Cohen and Trump sit down
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer turned critic, said he will interview Trump on his radio program Thursday, confirming a report from MS NOW and setting up what CBS News called “the first public conversation between the president and myself in eight years.” Cohen said the interview is poised to air on WABC Radio, with portions slated for Thursday night on 77 WABC radio in New York City and more set for his Sunday show on the same channel.
The Hill reported Trump will sit for the interview after Cohen admitted to facilitating payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Cohen framed the moment as reconciliation in a Substack post titled “The Impossible Reunion,” writing, “We forgave.”
Quotes, timing, and outlets
Cohen told CBS News that “I reached out to the White House, reached out to the president, and he kindly agreed,” and he said the call is being recorded Thursday morning before airing in parts that evening and Sunday on his radio show “When You Know, You Know… with Michael Cohen.”
Newsweek reported Cohen told it the interview is scheduled to air on New York radio station 77 WABC at 6 p.m. ET Thursday, with the remainder set for his regular Sunday show from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
CNN described Trump’s taped phone interview for Cohen’s WABC program as lasting 40 minutes and said it will be their first open conversation since the collapse of their relationship more than eight years ago.
In a separate account of the reconciliation, The Hill quoted Cohen saying, “I actually texted the president. I thanked him.”
What’s at stake next
The interview arrives as Cohen’s past role in the Stormy Daniels payment scheme remains central to the story, with CBS News noting scrutiny over a $130,000 payment Cohen made on Trump’s behalf before the 2016 election and that Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to financial and campaign finance crimes and lying to Congress.
Cohen’s testimony also remains a key thread in the coverage, with CBS News saying he testified against Mr. Trump in his civil and criminal trials in New York and helped to get Mr. Trump convicted of 34 felony counts of falsification of business records tied to the Daniels matter.
Forbes reported the interview is expected to be recorded for Cohen’s weekly talk radio show, which is also recorded for a podcast, and said Cohen told MS NOW that Trump will record the interview with him for the show.
CNN linked the reconciliation to Cohen’s account that prosecutors pressured and coerced him into testifying, and it quoted Cohen previewing the moment with the question, “Can forgiveness resurrect what hatred destroyed?”