Michael Cohen
ON THE RECORD · 43 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“You remember when I was by your side, I literally used to analyse the polls and you remember how much attention that I used to pay to that methodology? I would come in, I would say to you, oh, they’re claiming that you’re 31%, that you are under water, but I showed you that, that the sit – ”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen recalled analyzing polls for Trump while addressing him as 'Boss' during the interview.
“Well, maybe just you and me, sir,”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen replied to Trump's comment about being 'weaponized' by the media.
“Do you remember, sir, when I went on CNN with Brianna Keilar, and she told me that you were underwater in the polls, and I responded with those famous two words ‘says who,’ which became some worldwide meme,”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen recalled his viral 2016 CNN interview with Brianna Keilar during the radio conversation with Trump.
“Now, the funny thing is that CNN never apologized. They never retracted anything and now, years later, CNN, MS NOW, the other left-leaning outlets, they're doing the exact same thing, constantly talking about you being underwater with favorability numbers,”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen criticized CNN and other outlets for repeating similar tactics regarding Trump's poll numbers.
“Reunited and it feels so good!”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen quoted the 1978 Peaches & Herb song 'Reunited' at the conclusion of the interview.
“I mean, the only difference is there was no hot lead in this one; there’s only incarceration.”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen continued his remarks comparing his and Trump's treatment to the historical Jackson-Burr rivalry, noting the lack of violence but presence of incarceration.
“you gave me one of those traditional Trump slaps on the shoulder”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen reminisced during the interview about a past moment with Trump.
“There may be no two people on this planet that have had the justice department weaponised against them more than Trump and I. There has not been two people maybe that have been put against one another maybe, I don’t know, since Andrew Jackson and [Aaron] Burr?”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-21
Cohen made these remarks to listeners during a pre-interview hype segment on his New York radio show before interviewing Trump.
“I have been living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day that I accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen I deeply admired. I know now, in fact, there is little to be admired.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen continued his statement at his December 2018 sentencing, reflecting on working for Trump.
“attack dog with a law license”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen once described his role and loyalty to Trump this way before later becoming a witness against him.
“It’s accountability. It’s exactly what America needs right now,”
Michael Cohen · said 2024-05-30 · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow this after Trump's conviction in the New York hush money case.
“The answer is actually much simpler than people want it to be. We forgave. Not because the past didn’t happen. Not because the scars disappeared. Not because every disagreement suddenly became irrelevant. And certainly not because I have forgotten anything. I haven’t. Forgiveness doesn’t require amnesia. It requires the courage to stop allowing yesterday to dictate tomorrow,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen explained in his Substack post why he and Trump were able to reconcile.
“Well, maybe just you and I, sir,”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen interjected during his radio interview with Trump.
“does not want to be president of the United States – he wants to be an autocrat, supreme leader, dictator”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen made this warning in October 2022 while reflecting on the January 6 Capitol attack.
“I’m the guy who stops the leaks. I’m the guy who protects the president and the family. I’m the guy who would take a bullet for the president,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen told Vanity Fair in September 2017 about his role protecting Trump after being accused of leaking to a reporter.
“Forgiveness does not mean amnesia. It does not mean that the past did not happen. It does not mean the scars vanish, that the pain was fake or that I have forgotten a single second of what transpired, I have not. Forgiveness isn’t about erasing history,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen introduced his radio interview with Donald Trump by explaining his choice to move forward.
“reconciliation doesn’t mean rewriting history.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen said this week that reconciling with Trump does not mean rewriting history.
“You better believe I want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to my family.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen continued his 2023 podcast remarks about wanting Trump imprisoned.
“My weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to Donald Trump, a blind loyalty that led me to choose a path of darkness.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen said this in a statement at his December 2018 sentencing for crimes including campaign finance violations and tax evasion.
“Boss, remember when I was by your side,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen spoke nostalgically to Donald Trump during the radio interview.
“It is about having the courage to decide that yesterday will no longer dictate tomorrow.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen introduced his radio interview with Donald Trump by discussing the meaning of forgiveness.
“I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience. I am ashamed because I know what Mr Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen testified before the House oversight committee in February 2019, criticizing Trump's character.
“I knew him better than even his family did because I bore witness to the real man … a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a conman.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen wrote this in his 2020 tell-all book about Trump, Disloyal.
“Donald Trump and I spent roughly fifteen years in the trenches together. We built relationships, shared victories, endured setbacks and pursued a path that ultimately reached the highest office on Earth. Then everything exploded,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen described his roughly fifteen-year relationship with Trump before their falling out.
“One minute, they’re posting inspirational memes about divine love and turning the other cheek. The next, they’re screaming into my digital throat with enough fury to melt the screen. There is a word for that. Irony,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen wrote on Substack about receiving backlash from people who claim Christian values but criticized him for reconciling with Trump.
“What I was doing, I was doing at the direction of and benefit of Mr. Trump,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen testified about his actions at Donald Trump's 2024 criminal trial.
“the people we hate.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen wrote that Americans should not build identities around people they hate.
“People keep asking me the same question: How is this possible? … The answer is actually much simpler than people want it to be. We forgave … Forgiveness doesn’t require amnesia. It requires the courage to stop allowing yesterday to dictate tomorrow.”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen explained in a Substack post why he agreed to have Trump on his radio show.
“My loyalty to Mr Trump cost me everything … and I will not sit back, say nothing and allow him to do the same to the country.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen made this statement in his closing remarks during his February 2019 congressional testimony.
“The good times don’t cease to have existed because the bad times came afterward,”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen promoted his radio interview with Donald Trump in an online newsletter post.
“Sometimes the most extraordinary act of courage isn’t winning the fight. It’s deciding the fight doesn’t have to last forever. And sometimes, after everything has burned down, forgiveness is the only thing capable of building something again. This evening, you’ll hear whether we can.”
Michael Cohen · said 2026-08-20 · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen continued his Substack post explaining his decision to reconcile with Trump.
“Colossians 3:13 says: ‘Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you,’”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen quoted Colossians 3:13 in his Substack post explaining his reasoning for forgiving Trump.
“That verse isn’t merely some theological footnote to what is happening between Donald Trump and me. It is the foundation of it.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen wrote that the Bible verse forms the foundation of his reconciliation with Trump.
“I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen wrote in a Substack post about feeling pressured by prosecutors.
“The last time I appeared before Congress, I came to protect Mr Trump. Today, I am here to tell the truth about Mr Trump.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen opened his testimony before the US House oversight committee in February 2019.
“Don’t discount what he’s telling you. He’s already foreshadowing what he intends to do. And when you say: ‘That’s not possible. He won’t do it. He can’t do it’ – he’s already done it to me. It was a practice run.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen warned in July 2024 about Trump's intentions regarding the Department of Justice.
“You don’t have to like Donald Trump. You don’t even have to believe that forgiveness is possible. But listen before you judge. Because history isn’t made only through elections, wars, betrayals and political bloodletting. Sometimes history is made in a much quieter way,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen wrote urging readers to listen to the interview before judging his reconciliation with Trump.
“I had and still have a lot of affection for him.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Michael Cohen reflected on his feelings toward Donald Trump in his 2020 memoir.
“I regret doing things for him that I should not have. To keep the loyalty and to do the things that he asked me to do, I violated my moral compass. And I suffered the penalty – as has my family.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen reflected on his loyalty to Trump while testifying at the hush-money trial in May 2024.
“Given my experience working for Mr Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen warned during his February 2019 congressional testimony about a possible failure to transfer power peacefully.
“I take full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to, the personal ones to me and those involving the president of the United States of America … It was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen addressed his guilty pleas during his December 2018 sentencing statement.
“I truly fucking hope that this man ends up in prison,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen made this remark on his podcast in 2023 while discussing charges against Trump brought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
“Sounds like something I would say,”
Michael Cohen · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20
Cohen responded during 2024 cross-examination when asked about insults he had used against Trump on his podcast.