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Donald Trump's former lawyer and "fixer," Michael Cohen, warned on Saturday that the former president would invade U.S. allies Mexico and Canada if he's reelected to the White House in 2024.
Cohen has been a staunch critic of his former boss in light of Trump's plethora of legal troubles. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, and was sentenced to three years in jail. Cohen's charges were in connection to hush-money payments made in 2016 on behalf of Trump—who faces 34 felony counts in Manhattan over allegations that he falsified business records to cover the payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels who alleged she had an affair with Trump. The former president has denied the affair and maintains his innocence in the case.
Following Cohen and Trump's falling out, he came out with a memoir titled, Disloyal, in which he called the former president "a cheat, a mobster, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, [and] a con man."
On Saturday during an interview appearance on MSNBC's Velshi, Cohen warned Americans of what he believes Trump, the current GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, would do if he got back into the Oval Office next year.
"The thing that most people are ignoring, and this applies to everyone—when Donald has full authority and full power, you can't imagine the things that he's going to do, how far he's going to press the line," Cohen told host Ali Velshi. "If think you [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, Russia, entering Ukraine is for a land grab, well what do you think Donald is going to do if he becomes a dictator? Mexico, Canada, whatever our bordering countries are."
Cohen also cautioned Americans not to take his warning lightly.
"I know people say, 'Stop it, Michael. It's all hyperbole,' No, it's not. Donald sees himself not as a human, he sees himself as, like, a god. He believes himself to be above all of us and he wants to be the king. He wants to take over the world," he added.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign team via email for comment. Newsweek reached out to Cohen via Instagram direct message and the press email for TuneIn, the platform where Cohen's podcast, Mea Culpa, is on.
Meanwhile, Trump and his associates have, in the years since Cohen flipped and became an outspoken critic, claimed that his one-time fixer is an unreliable and biased voice against the former president, citing Cohen's own past admissions about lying on Trump's behalf.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would not be a dictator "except for Day One" if he were to be reelected.
During a Fox News town hall on Tuesday in Iowa, host Sean Hannity asked Trump, "Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?"
"Except for Day One," the former president replied. When asked to clarify what he meant, Trump said, "I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill."
He then went on to say, "I love this guy," referring to Hannity. "He says, 'You're not going to be a dictator, are you?' I said: 'No, no, no. Other than Day One.' We're closing the border, and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I'm not a dictator," Trump said.
After the conclusion of the town hall, President Joe Biden's campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez put out a statement saying that "Donald Trump has been telling us exactly what he will do if he's reelected and tonight he said he will be a dictator on day one. Americans should believe him."
About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more