Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, once tried to broker a deal with late-night comedian Seth Meyers that would have Meyers apologize for jokes he made at the president’s expense when he hosted the White House Correspondents’ dinner in 2011.
Negotiations between Cohen and Meyers for Trump to appear on Meyer’s NBC “Late Night” program began in February 2015, shortly before Trump announced his presidential bid, Meyers told Politico’s “Off Message” podcast in an episode that aired Tuesday.
But discussions soured when it became apparent Meyers wouldn’t concede to Cohen’s deal-breaking demand: that Meyers publicly apologize to Trump on the show for poking fun of him at the glitzy gala four years earlier.
“Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke,” Meyers told White House Correspondents’ dinner attendees at the time.
Neither the White House nor Cohen responded to Politico’s request for comment.
“[Trump] turned himself into an object of ridicule,” Meyers told Politico during the interview. “This is a case of judo, where you’re using someone else’s momentum against them. It’s not like we’re attacking. We’re just sort of like steering his weight and letting him take himself down.”
