Trump weighs pardon for Cohen, once branded 'traitor,' 'liar'

US President Donald Trump is considering a pardon for Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer who later became one of his fiercest adversaries.

According to Yonhap, citing a report by the US political outlet Politico, Trump told reporters Wednesday (local time) that he would consider pardoning Cohen "if everything checks out." He made the remark before departing for the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas.

Cohen once served as Trump's personal lawyer and self-styled "fixer," and was among his closest confidants.

But during Trump's first term, in 2018, Cohen testified as a key witness against Trump in a criminal trial tied to hush-money payments made to cover up an alleged affair. His testimony was damaging to the president.

Trump responded by branding Cohen a "traitor" and a "liar."

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on charges including tax evasion, making false statements, falsifying documents and violating campaign finance laws. The charges stemmed from his work for the Trump Organization, Trump's family business. In April 2024, before the last presidential election, Cohen told Politico that if Trump won reelection, "there will not be another election in this country." He was referring to the Capitol riot that erupted near the end of Trump's first term. The following month, Cohen appeared before a congressional hearing and again made statements damaging to Trump. He said that while working for him, he had lied and bullied people on Trump's behalf.

Since Trump's return to office, however, Cohen has claimed that prosecutors pressured him into giving testimony unfavorable to Trump.

Last month, Trump and Cohen spoke publicly for the first time in roughly eight years.

Trump appeared on a WABC radio program hosted by Cohen. According to a Yonhap report at the time, the two men appeared eager to move past their old grudges during the interview.

Cohen addressed Trump once again as "Boss," as he had in the past. Trump, for his part, said prosecutors had "weaponized" Cohen and called it "really something" that Cohen had reversed his earlier testimony against him.

Ahead of the broadcast, Cohen said the two had forgiven each other, adding, "Forgiveness is not erasing the past — it is deciding that yesterday no longer dictates tomorrow."

Yonhap, citing The New York Times, reported that the two men had held a private meeting last year at a Trump-owned golf course in New Jersey. The report also said the White House had given its tacit approval when Cohen was chosen to host the WABC radio program.