Story perspectives

Trump appears on Cohen’s radio show amid pardon rewrite

8/25/2026

Center

Trump Meets Cohen

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared on Michael Cohen’s 77 WABC-AM radio program in New York on Thursday, August 21, 2026.
Cohen rewrote his pardon letter, replacing President Joe Biden’s name with Trump’s, while the White House says the request is not being tracked.
Trump said he respects Cohen for recanting his statements and called him weaponized.
A White House official said the clemency-review team screens requests, with president making the decision.

Left

Trump Phones Cohen

President Donald Trump appeared by phone on Michael Cohen’s 77 WABC-AM show in New York on Thursday, August 21, 2026.
Coverage frames the reunion as Trump’s reliance on personal loyalty and casts Cohen’s reversal as alleged prosecutorial coercion.
Trump accused Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and AG Letitia James of forcing Cohen’s testimony change.
Cohen, after a three-year campaign-finance sentence, seeks a presidential pardon to resume his real-estate business.

History

Historical Context

On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford issued a full pardon to former President Richard Nixon, ending pending criminal prosecution from the Watergate scandal. The decision, backed by the Justice Department and costing roughly $1.5 billion in legal expenses, sparked a 55 percent drop in public trust toward the executive. Today, Donald Trump’s 2026 interview with Michael Cohen mirrors Ford’s 1974 clemency, as Trump seeks a pardon and blames Alvin Bragg and Letitia James. The parallel underscores how presidential clemency can become a political bargaining chip, potentially reshaping future campaign-finance enforcement and executive-branch credibility.

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Trump Meets Cohen

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared on Michael Cohen’s 77 WABC-AM radio program in New York on Thursday, August 21, 2026.
Cohen rewrote his pardon letter, replacing President Joe Biden’s name with Trump’s, while the White House says the request is not being tracked.
Trump said he respects Cohen for recanting his statements and called him weaponized.
A White House official said the clemency-review team screens requests, with president making the decision.

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