'Forgiveness does not mean amnesia': Trump appears on former fixer Michael Cohen's radio show
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
Michael Cohen spent years calling Trump every name in the book, testified against him, wrote a book about it, and then Trump went on his radio show anyway. That's the story, and honestly it's more interesting than most of what passes for political news these days. Whatever else you think of either man, that's not a normal Tuesday in Washington.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
President Donald Trump appeared Thursday on his former fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen's radio show, holding a stunning public reunion with the man who once called him a "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain" and testified against him both in court and before Congress.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Michael Cohen spent years calling Trump every name in the book, testified against him, wrote a book about it, and then Trump went on his radio show anyway. That's the story, and honestly it's more interesting than most of what passes for political news these days. Whatever else you think of either man, that's not a normal Tuesday in Washington.
We're not going to pretend this makes sense as a strategic masterstroke. It probably doesn't need to be one. Trump has always treated grudges the way most people treat weather: something to complain about loudly and then move past when the sun comes out. Cohen turning fixer-turned-foe into fixer-turned-podcast-guest tells you more about the media economy than it does about forgiveness. Everybody needs content, and old enemies make for better ratings than old friends.
That said, the headline phrase deserves some scrutiny. "Forgiveness does not mean amnesia" sounds thoughtful until you remember Cohen went to prison partly over Trump-adjacent business and then spent years building a second career trashing him on cable news. If this is reconciliation, fine, people are allowed to move on. But nobody should mistake a radio appearance for an apology tour on either side. It's theater, and probably good theater, but let's not dress it up as some grand act of statesmanship.
What actually matters here isn't the drama between two New York guys with long memories. It's whether Americans watching this circus get anything out of it besides another round of tabloid intrigue dressed up as news. We suspect most people changed the channel long before the segment ended.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.