Michael Cohen, the lawyer and fixer who testified against Donald Trump during his criminal trial, has begun reconstructing his relationship with the president following a previously unreported meeting last summer.
The encounter appears to have marked a turning point. Unlike other Trump critics who have faced public attacks and legal threats, Cohen has notably been spared the president's characteristic retribution. The shift suggests a behind-the-scenes reconciliation after years of bitter estrangement.
Cohen's role in Trump's legal battles was central and damaging. His testimony helped secure a conviction against the former president, making him one of the most consequential witnesses in the case. That transformation from Trump loyalist to prosecution witness had seemed to make any future rapprochement impossible.
Yet the summer meeting signals that both men may have calculated differently. For Trump, tolerating Cohen avoids the messy public feuds that have consumed energy and legal resources elsewhere. For Cohen, avoiding the president's wrath carries obvious practical and personal value.
The development underscores the fluid nature of Trump's relationships with former associates. Where others remain targets of denunciations and investigations, Cohen has navigated into something resembling neutral ground. Whether the arrangement holds depends partly on Cohen's discretion and partly on whether Trump's attention turns elsewhere.
The specifics of their conversation and any agreements reached remain unclear. What is evident is that the man who helped convict Trump has found a way to step back from the firing line, at least for now.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Cohen's survival in Trump's orbit after delivering such damaging testimony shows the president's vendettas aren't actually immutable, which might worry his other critics more than it should reassure them."
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