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Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer-turned-enemy, is hosting the president on his radio show

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Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer-turned-enemy, is hosting the president on his radio show
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Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer-turned-enemy, is hosting the president on his radio show

2026-08-21 02:14 Last Updated At:02:20

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to appear Thursday on the radio show of his former fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, making a public reunion with the man who once called him a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain” and testified against him both in court and before Congress.

Cohen, who served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Trump’s “dirty deeds,” confirmed that the Republican president will appear in a taped interview airing on his 77 WABC program Thursday evening and Sunday.

The apparent truce with Cohen makes him the latest in a long line of Trump loyalists who have had public falling-outs with the president but found themselves back in his good graces. Other recent examples include Elon Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But the split from Cohen was perhaps the most personal. Cohen once boasted that he would “take a bullet” for Trump and was by Trump's side during his political rise. After their public breakup, Cohen's testimony in Trump's 2024 criminal hush-money trial instead paved the way for Trump's criminal conviction just as he was trying to make his political comeback.

Cohen has since criticized prosecutors in the case and has said he and Trump have started to reconcile.

The White House did not comment on Cohen’s statements or confirm the appearance, but Trump’s official schedule showed him taping a radio interview Thursday morning.

In a long post on his online newsletter Thursday promoting the interview, Cohen said that although his relationship with Trump became “political blood sport,” there were 15 years of close friendship between them.

“The good times don’t cease to have existed because the bad times came afterward,” Cohen wrote.

Simply, he said: “We forgave.”

Trump has made no warm public statements about Cohen but in a series of social media posts this year linked to some of his former lawyer’s comments saying he felt pressured by prosecutors to testify against Trump in the criminal hush money case and a civil fraud case.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.

The campaign finance charges stemmed from his efforts to arrange payouts during the 2016 presidential race to keep the porn actor Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from making public claims of extramarital affairs with Trump.

In 2024, Cohen testified in the criminal case against Trump about the payment to Daniels, which prosecutors said was an illegal effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Cohen testified before Congress in 2019, alleging Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets to gain favorable loan terms and tax benefits.

He gave similar testimony in a 2023 civil fraud trial in New York that found Trump and his companies engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. A New York appeals court later threw out a $550 million judgment against Trump in that case. Trump has asked a court to overturn the remaining parts of the case.

In his tell-all memoir in 2020, “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump,” Cohen was unsparing, calling Trump an “organized crime don” and “master manipulator.”

But, foreshadowing their later rapprochement, Cohen also wrote that he still cared for Trump, writing, “I had and still have a lot of affection for him.”

FILE - Michael Cohen speaks during a news conference announcing his new radio show in New York, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Michael Cohen speaks during a news conference announcing his new radio show in New York, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Michael Cohen speaks during a news conference announcing his new radio show in New York, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Michael Cohen speaks during a news conference announcing his new radio show in New York, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Rep. Eric Swalwell and searched his Washington home as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the ex-Democratic congressman from California, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Swalwell’s devices were seized at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and agents executed a search warrant at his home a day later, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday with an attorney for Swalwell, who has denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.

Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress in April following allegations that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported the allegations. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

The seven-term lawmaker had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before dropping out after the allegations surfaced.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed in April that it was investigating Swalwell after a former staffer told CNN and the Chronicle that Swalwell raped her at a hotel while he was in New York City for a charity gala in 2024. In a statement, Bragg’s office encouraged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.”

A lawyer representing Lonna Drewes, a California woman who in April said she had been raped in 2018 by Swalwell, said his team was cooperating with all law enforcement agencies investigating the former congressman.

“We are encouraged to learn about the escalation of the FBI’s investigation into the allegations against Eric Swalwell,” attorney Arick Fudali said in a statement.

Drewes spoke of the assault at a news conference days after Swalwell dropped out of the California governor’s race. She said it occurred at a hotel in Southern California. Swalwell denied that assault.

Swalwell, an Iowa native, was elected in 2012 and represented a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but ended it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters.

He was one of Republican President Donald Trump’s top Democratic antagonists in Congress. He was a prominent member of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees during Trump's first term and served as one of several Democratic prosecutors for Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Swalwell was removed from the Intelligence Committee by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2023 based on Swalwell's contact with a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang.

Fang was reported to have come into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012 and to have participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign.

Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisak in New York and Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

FILE - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., questions former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., questions former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., appears at a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

FILE - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., appears at a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

FYI - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

FYI - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

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