Inside the once-close relationship between Trump and his 'pit bull' lawyer Michael Cohen, who is now a key witness in the ex-president's criminal trial

Cohen would quickly become one of Trump's most ardent supporters — but has since become one of the biggest legal threats to the Trump presidency. 

Trump, then-just a New York businessman and reality TV star, had long flirted with running for president. Ahead of the 2012 election, Cohen launched a website called "Should Trump Run." Trump ultimately passed, but he began to lay the groundwork for his shocking 2016 upset.

Like many in Trump's orbit, Cohen was thrust into the greater spotlight and onto the 2016 campaign trial. It didn't always go well. Cohen threatened a Daily Beast reporter for unearthing Ivana Trump's comments that described an encounter with her then-husband as "rape."

"You're talking about the frontrunner for the GOP, presidential candidate, as well as a private individual who never raped anybody," Cohen told the outlet. "And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can't rape your spouse."

Cohen's comments sparked a firestorm, leading Trump, then the GOP frontrunner, to declare, "He's speaking for himself."

It was what Cohen did privately that remains his biggest 2016-related legacy.

Cohen testified at the hush-money trial that in the wake of The Washington Post publishing the "Access Hollywood" tape, the Trump campaign was on edge about any other stories regarding Trump's history with women.

Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, had been shopping around her story that she had an affair with Trump at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament. Trump has repeatedly denied that he had an affair. In the wake of the tape's publication, prosecutors said Trump wanted to "lock down the Stormy Daniels story."

Just weeks before the election, Cohen and Daniels' lawyer brokered a $130,000 hush-money payment. 

Cohen testified at the hush-money trial that he opened a new bank account to hide his payment to Daniels from his wife. After the election, prosecutors said the now-President Trump agreed to a series of installments to pay Cohen back, disguised as legal fees.

The episode remained private until a 2018 bombshell Wall Street Journal article uncovered the payment. Cohen, who was, at the time, the president's personal attorney, was about to have his life upended.

Then-special counsel Robert Mueller makes a referral to the FBI. In April 2018, federal agents raided Cohen's home, office, and hotel room. Trump blasts his own Justice Department over the decision. 

Cohen testified during Trump's 2024 trial that the president called his longtime attorney to reassure him that he had his back.

"Don't worry, I'm the President of the United States, there's no — nothing here," Cohen testified that Trump told him. "Everything is going to be ok. Stay tough. You'll be okay."

According to Cohen, it was the last time the pair spoke directly. Trump, according to his former attorney, used intermediaries and public tweets to convey that Cohen should remain loyal to his longtime boss.

Despite his bravado, Cohen testified that he was "scared." For some time, the Trump Organization paid his legal fees. He was part of a joint defense agreement. Ultimately, Cohen said his family questioned why he was willing to risk so much.

"We're in this unique situation that I've never experienced," Cohen testified on May 14, at the hush-money trial. "And my family, my wife, my daughter, my son, all said to me, why are holding onto this loyalty? What are you doing? We're supposed to be your first loyalty?"

In August 2018, Cohen reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

He said that Trump directed the hush-money payments, a claim that contradicted the then-president's direct denials. It was, as the Associated Press reported, "the first time that any Trump associate has gone into open court and implicated Trump himself in a crime."

Trump's reaction was swift. Within months, he called Cohen "a 'rat'," a term more commonly used in mafia-related business than in presidential communications.

After over a decade together, the pair's relationship was shattered.

Cohen underlined his break with Trump during his combative February 2019 testimony before Congress.

"I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man," Cohen said. "I have fixed things, but I am no longer your 'fixer,' Mr. Trump."

Cohen further testified he not only made the illicit hush-money payments at the direction of Trump, but testified that Trump directed him to threaten news outlets and others with litigation "at least 500" times — even threatening the schools Trump attended not to release his grades or SAT scores.

At the end of the hearing, Cohen was moved to tears when then-Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, expressed sympathy for Cohen's situation.

"I know it's painful being called a rat," Cummings said in his closing statement. "I live in the inner city of Baltimore. When you call someone a rat, that's one of the worst things you can call them … because that means snitch."

Republicans repeatedly blasted Cohen throughout his testimony. They painted him as a jilted former aide who turned on Trump because he didn't get a job in the White House. (Cohen said he wanted to stay outside the administration.) 

Trump allies also emphasized Cohen's admission that the former Trump attorney had lied to Congress before.

"Mr. Cohen, here's what I see, I see a guy who worked for 10 years, who is trashing a guy he worked for 10 years, didn't get a job in the White House, and now you're behaving just like everyone else who got fired or didn't get the job they wanted," Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who was at the time the top Republican on the Oversight committee, said during the hearing.

Cohen reported to the federal prison near Otisville, New York in May 2019. Before that, he was also formally disbarred. Cohen was sentenced to three years behind bars, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to serve out a lot of the time via home confinement.

Cohen's turn against Trump has been lucrative for his former lawyer. Cohen testified that he has made roughly $3.4 million off of two Trump-related books. He also hosts a podcast on behalf of the anti-Trump group Meidas Touch. 

Since breaking with Trump, Cohen has repeatedly trolled his former boss. One of his favorite insults is calling Trump Donald "Von ShitzInPantz."

Trump and Cohen had not seen each other for five years before Cohen testified in Trump's civil fraud trial in 2023. 

Cohen said that the former president directed him to defraud banks and insurers.

"I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected," Cohen testified.

New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron later ordered Trump to pay over $355 million. Engoron issued a scathing verdict.

"The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience," Engoron wrote in his decision.

Cohen repeatedly barbed Trump in the lead-up to his then-expected testimony in Trump's Manhattan criminal trial.

Justice Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump, which bars the former president from commenting on likely witnesses in the case. Merchan has held Trump in contempt and ordered him to pay $10,000 in fines. If Trump violates the order again, Merchan has warned he could jail the former president.

One of Trump's violations was when he posted on Truth Social, "Has disgraced attorney and felon Michael Cohen been prosecuted for LYING?" 

The Manhattan trial is the first time in history a former president has faced criminal charges. Prosecutors have relied on Cohen to testify to Trump's direct involvement in hush-money payments and in helping falsify business records to cover them up.

If Trump himself doesn't testify in the case, Cohen could be the last major witness to testify. 

Trump's lead attorney, Todd Blanche, has grilled Cohen over his past statements about Trump, including when Cohen called the former president a "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain."