August 21, 2026 / 5:49 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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President Trump appeared Thursday on the radio show of Michael Cohen, his fixer-turned-foe, in a stunning public reunion with the man who once called him a "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain" and testified against him both in court and before Congress. For Cohen, who served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Mr. Trump's "dirty deeds," it was the culmination of a behind-the-scenes detente that would have been impossible to imagine several years ago. The interview, part of which aired Thursday evening on Cohen's radio program on 77 WABC-AM in New York and which will air in full on Sunday, was an exceptionally friendly affair, with only passing reference to the men's tumultuous history. "They weaponized you like nobody's ever been weaponized, like few have been," Mr. Trump told Cohen. "I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said," he went on. "That's a big thing that you did." In an interview with CNN shortly before the radio interview aired, Cohen said he had resubmitted a pardon application to the White House that had been denied by the previous administration, but had yet to receive any response and planned to follow up Friday."I took that same application with the same documentation, and I just rewrote the cover letter removing the name of President Joe Biden and inserting the name President Donald Trump," Cohen said. " ... I have not received an acknowledgement that they have the application, which is on my to-do list. ... I intend to call tomorrow to find out what happened because I did send it by FedEx, so I do have a receipt."
