Michael Cohen said on Monday that he had patched things up with Donald Trump after a falling out that grew out of the New York hush money trial. The former fixer said a text message exchange and a later meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida brought the two men back into contact.
The timing matters because Cohen is not just any former aide looking back on old grudges. He was a central witness against Trump in Letitia James’ business fraud case and in the Alvin Bragg-led hush money trial, both of which helped define Trump’s legal year in 2024. In one, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his net worth for decades and imposed a judgment that grew to more than $500 million after interest and fines. Appellate judges later threw out the fine as excessive. In the other, Manhattan jurors found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and he later received a no-penalty sentence shortly after winning the presidential election.
Cohen said the thaw began after a mutual friend brought him word that Trump felt empathy for what he was going through. Cohen said he texted Trump to thank him and suggested they rebuild what he called a long-lost friendship. Trump, he said, replied, “That would be nice. Let’s do it.” Cohen then described a second meeting at Mar-a-Lago as more intimate and more friendly than the first contact that reopened the line between them.
That reconciliation sits uneasily beside the public split that had come before it. Cohen said his honeymoon with the far left soured after he pushed back on claims that Trump stayed in touch with Jeffrey Epstein. He said, “I never saw him in Trump’s office. I never heard him on the speaker phone,” and added, “There was no communication. That angered the community.” Even as he described mending fences with Trump, Cohen drew a sharp line around his own conduct: “I didn’t betray anyone.”
What Cohen did not say may matter as much as what he did. He made clear that contact was restored and that a later meeting took place, but he did not spell out any deal, promise or next step coming out of Mar-a-Lago. For now, the closest thing to a conclusion is that one of Trump’s most damaging former insiders is no longer locked in open break with him, even if Cohen insists the old fight was a separation, not a betrayal.
