‘Hello, Michael’: Trump and Cohen bury the hatchet in stunning interview

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Donald Trump and former fixer Michael Cohen publicly spoke for the first time in roughly eight years, with Cohen repeatedly calling his former boss “Sir” and even slipping back into calling him “boss.”
Trump praised Cohen for what he characterized as recanting his previous claims. Cohen, who has accused New York prosecutors of pressuring and coercing his testimony, did not challenge Trump’s characterization during the interview.
There’s another wrinkle: Cohen is seeking a presidential pardon and confirmed after the interview that he intends to follow up with the Justice Department about his application.

Well, there’s a reunion almost nobody had on the political bingo card.

President Donald Trump and his former attorney-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen publicly spoke Thursday for the first time in roughly eight years, and the conversation sounded remarkably different from the years when the two men were attacking one another in courtrooms, books, podcasts and cable-news appearances.

“Hello, Michael,” Trump said as he joined Cohen’s 77 WABC radio program.

“The country is doing good.”

“Thanks to you, Sir,” Cohen responded.

And just like that, one of the nastiest political divorces of the Trump era suddenly sounded more like two old acquaintances comparing notes after a very long disagreement.

Cohen served for years as Trump’s personal attorney and self-described fixer before the relationship collapsed amid the federal investigation that ultimately sent Cohen to prison. Cohen later reinvented himself as one of Trump’s most ferocious critics, testified against him before Congress and became a key prosecution witness in Trump’s New York cases.

Now Cohen’s story about those prosecutions has changed considerably.

Earlier this year, Cohen accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James of pressuring him to provide testimony that would help their cases against Trump. “I felt pressured and coerced,” Cohen wrote, saying prosecutors wanted information and testimony that would advance their efforts to obtain judgments and convictions against Trump.

Trump certainly hasn’t forgotten it.

During Thursday’s interview, Cohen brought up his famous 2016 CNN appearance in which he responded “Says who?” when confronted with assertions that Trump was underwater in polling.

Trump says we WIPED OUT Iran.

Watch Full Interview Here: https://t.co/JYtLGcmjeq pic.twitter.com/Cs1yQPHure

— TalkRadio 77 WABC (@77WABCradio) August 20, 2026

“And then they weaponized you like nobody’s ever been weaponized,” Trump told him.

“Maybe just you and I, Sir,” Cohen replied.

Trump agreed with the general point, although he couldn’t resist noting that what happened to him was on another level. Then came perhaps the most remarkable moment.

“I respect the fact that you recanted everything that you said,” Trump told Cohen, calling it “a big thing.”

Cohen did not push back on Trump’s description during the exchange. However, it is worth being precise here: Cohen has publicly alleged coercion and retreated from important aspects of his previous posture toward Trump, but it would be too broad to report as an established fact that Cohen has literally withdrawn every allegation he ever made. Still, there wasn’t much ambiguity about the atmosphere.

At another point, Cohen slipped right back into the old days. “Because what’s happening, boss, you remember when I was by your side?” Cohen asked.

Boss.

That’s quite a journey from the Michael Cohen who built an entire post-Trump career denouncing his former employer.

And Cohen wasn’t finished. Before Trump’s appearance, he argued that both men had been subjected to weaponized justice, telling listeners that there might not be “two people on this planet” who had experienced more of it than Trump and himself.

The reconciliation apparently didn’t begin Thursday. Cohen says the two have forgiven one another, and reporting indicates they had already met privately before the WABC interview. But there’s an enormous elephant sitting beside the radio microphone.

Michael Cohen wants a pardon. Cohen has submitted an application for presidential clemency and said following Thursday’s interview that he intended to contact the Justice Department to make sure the application had been received.

That doesn’t prove the reconciliation is motivated by the pardon. It does, however, make Cohen’s sudden transformation from Trump antagonist to friendly radio host considerably more interesting.

And there’s still more coming. Thursday’s broadcast was only part of the conversation. WABC says additional portions of the Trump-Cohen interview will air Sunday.