--- title: Michael Cohen Undermined One of Donald Trump's Russia Claims description: Donald Trump has long claimed he has no business deals with Russia. His former lawyer just undermined that claim in courtroom testimony. canonical: https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-29T20:25:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:16:10.392Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump's Ex-Lawyer Just Undermined One of His Key Arguments About Russia og:description: The President has long claimed that he has no business dealings with Russia og:url: https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0db5a3233298dd1/6989403986f68e145f6ead3e/michael-cohen-pleads-guilty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5365 og:image:height: 3018 og:image:alt: michael-cohen-pleads-guilty og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump's Ex-Lawyer Just Undermined One of His Key Arguments About Russia twitter:description: The President has long claimed that he has no business dealings with Russia twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0db5a3233298dd1/6989403986f68e145f6ead3e/michael-cohen-pleads-guilty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Cohen Just Undermined One of Donald Trump's Key Russia Arguments > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=50850f23-6e05-4cd9-8a53-c1468388a719&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=50850f23-6e05-4cd9-8a53-c1468388a719&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=50850f23-6e05-4cd9-8a53-c1468388a719&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=50850f23-6e05-4cd9-8a53-c1468388a719&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Calls Michael Cohen a 'Weak Person' Who is 'Lying' After Guilty Plea [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Calls Michael Cohen a 'Weak Person' Who is 'Lying' After Guilty Plea](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/asHraP1E.m3u8) (2:03)  _Published 2018-11-29. President Donald Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is a “weak person” who is “lying” to get a reduced sentence._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Nov 29, 2018 8:25 PM UTC Michael Cohen, the former longtime personal lawyer of President Donald Trump, was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Wednesday, taking a parting shot at the President. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Nov 29, 2018 8:25 PM UTC For two years, Donald Trump has repeated a simple defense when faced with questions about Russia: He has no personal business with it. But dramatic testimony from his former lawyer Thursday shows that he’s been carefully hedging those statements. On Thursday morning, longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told a Manhattan courtroom that he was pursuing a potential development in Moscow through June of 2016, weeks after Trump had effectively sewn up the Republican presidential nomination. According to an [updated plea agreement](https://www.vox.com/2018/11/29/18117854/michael-cohen-plea-documents-trump-read) with federal prosecutors, Cohen discussed the project with Trump and his family members on multiple occasions, emailed and talked with Russian officials about it and made plans for both himself and Trump to visit Russia to advance it. What’s more, Cohen admitted that he had lied in a letter to the House and Senate intelligence committees and in testimony to the Senate committee about his work on the development, falsely claiming that the deal fell through months earlier, in January of 2016 — before the Iowa caucuses — and that Trump had never considered traveling to Russia to work on it. “I made these statements to be consistent with \[Trump’s\] political messaging and to be loyal to \[Trump\],” Cohen [reportedly told the court](https://twitter.com/eorden/status/1068158530459451392). And they were consistent. In tweets, interviews, press conferences, a presidential debate and a letter from a law firm released publicly since the summer of 2016, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he and the Trump Organization _“have”_ — note the verb tense — no loans, business deals, real estate investments or professional contacts with Russia. But those statements did not include the fact that his business had been in discussions about a potential development in Moscow just weeks earlier. Trump began arguing that he had no business relations with Russia in late July of 2016, around the time that reports surfaced that Russian government hackers were responsible for breaking into the Democratic National Committee servers and the same month of the infamous Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer. Questions about Russia led conservative pundit George Will to [speculate on Fox News](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/07/25/george%5Fwill%5Ftrump%5Fdoesnt%5Fwant%5Fto%5Frelease%5Ftax%5Freturns%5Fbecause%5Fhe%5Fis%5Fdeeply%5Finvolved%5Fin%5Fdealing%5Fwith%5Frussia.html) that Trump’s unreleased tax records might show business ties to the country, provoking Trump to respond. “For the record,” [he tweeted](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/758071952498159616?lang=en) on July 26, “I have ZERO investments in Russia.” Trump elaborated [in an interview with CBS Miami](https://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/07/27/cbs4-news-exclusive-trump-denies-ties-to-russia/) the next day. “I mean I have nothing to do with Russia,” he said. “I don’t have any jobs in Russia. I’m all over the world but we’re not involved in Russia.” And when Hillary Clinton brought up the DNC hack that fall at the [second presidential debate](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/transcript-second-debate.html), Trump reiterated the point. “I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia,” he said. “I don’t deal there. I have no businesses there. I have no loans from Russia.” The arguments continued after Trump became president, as the investigation into Russian meddling heated up. “I have no loans and I have no dealings,” said Trump in a [press conference as President-elect](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/trump-press-conference-transcript.html) in January of 2017\. “We could make deals in Russia very easily if we wanted to, I just don’t want to because I think that would be a conflict.” And again at a [February press conference](https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/donald-trump-news-conference-transcript/index.html): “I own nothing in Russia. I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.” In March, he had lawyers with Morgan Lewis review his tax returns and write him a letter — [later forwarded to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/12/trump-lawyer-says-tax-returns-from-past-10-years-show-no-income-of-any-type-from-russian-souces-with-few-exceptions-report.html) — certifying that they show no income, debt or investments with Russia. In [an interview with the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html) in July of 2017, Trump noted that Russians may have bought a condo from him from time to time, adding that he had considered developments there, but he again repeated that he had no business deals in the country. “They said I own buildings in Russia. I don’t. They said I made money from Russia. I don’t. It’s not my thing. I don’t, I don’t do that,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one.” Trump has pursued real estate developments in Russia for so long that they’re even mentioned in his 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal.” Describing his talks with a Soviet ambassador in 1986 in the book, Trump boasted: “One thing led to another, and now I’m talking about building a large luxury hotel across the street from the Kremlin in partnership with the Soviet government.” The talks went nowhere, but Trump apparently kept trying. According to CNN, he [hired the Russian law firm Sojuzpatent](https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/politics/trump-ties-with-russia/) to file at least eight trademarks between 1996 and 2008, including “Trump,” “Trump Home” and “Trump Tower.” After the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, he tweeted at a Russian developer that “Trump Tower-Moscow is next,” likely a reference to the deal that Cohen later pursued. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/399939505924628480) And Trump has long worked with Russians on U.S. projects. From 2002 to 2011, the Trump Organization [partnered with the Bayrock Group](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/11/29/events-that-lead-trumps-abandoned-moscow-deal-michael-cohens-latest-plea-agreement/?utm%5Fterm=.d07421b5c909), run by Russian immigrants, to develop properties in Florida and New York. In a [discussion of New York real estate](https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-said-money-pouring-in-from-russia-2018-2) in 2008, Donald Trump Jr. said that Russians made up a “disproportionate cross-section” of the family business’ investors. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,” he said. Golf reporter James Dodson said that Trump’s son, Eric, once told him the [family’s golf courses get all their funding from Russia](http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/05/05/james-dodson-donald-trump-golf). (Eric Trump denied saying this.) Cohen’s testimony, then, should not be surprising, but the timing he describes adds another layer of nuance to discussions about Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 election. As the former Trump lawyer all-but acknowledged in court, running for president while attempting to broker a major investment with a foreign power is, at best, unseemly — otherwise, why would he have lied about it falling through before voting started in the Iowa caucuses? And Trump himself said in January of 2017 that making a deal with Russia as president “would be a conflict.” The biggest sign that Trump knows the Cohen testimony is damning was his response. Shortly after Cohen’s courtroom appearance, Trump spoke with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One. He charged that his former longtime lawyer was lying in order to reduce a potential prison sentence on unrelated federal charges, even though Trump’s own lawyers later [told the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/us/politics/trump-cohen-moscow-trump-tower.html) that he gave similar answers to Cohen in his responses to special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump then debuted an entirely new set of arguments about his potential business dealings with Russia. In short order, Trump argued that: 1) everyone knew that there was a potential Trump project in Moscow, 2) the negotiations didn’t last very long, 3) he was never very enthusiastic about the proposal, 4) Trump was the one who decided not to do the project, 5) the primary reason for ending it was to focus on his presidential campaign, 6) it would have been foolish not to look into a money-making project in case he ended up losing and going back to his business, and 7) there would be nothing wrong with pursuing an overseas development while running for president. “He’s lying about a project that everybody knew about. I mean we were very open about it. We were thinking about building a building,” Trump told reporters. “We decided — I decided ultimately not to do it. There would have been nothing wrong if I did do it.” As more details come out about the Trump Tower Moscow proposal, those claims may or may not hold up to scrutiny. But one thing is clear: They are very different arguments than simply stating that he has no business with Russia. ## Transcript [00:00] So Michael Cohen has made many statements to the [00:03] House, as I understand it, and the Senate. He put out a [00:07] statement talking about a project, which was essentially [00:11] I guess more or less of an option that we were looking at in [00:15] Moscow. Everybody knew about it. It was written about in [00:17] newspapers. It was a well known project, it was during The [00:22] early part of 16 and I guess even before that. It lasted a [00:26] short period of time. I didn't do the project. I decided not to [00:30] do the project, so I didn't do it. So, we're not talking about [00:33] doing a project. We're talking about not doing a project. [00:37] Michael Cohen, what he's doing, is he was convicted, I [00:39] guess. You'll have to put it into legal terms. But he was [00:43] convicted with a fairly long term sentence on things [00:47] totally unrelated to the Trump organization, having to do [00:49] with mortgages, and having to do with cheating the [00:54] IRS perhaps, a lot of different things. I don't know exactly, [00:57] but he was convicted of various things unrelated to us [01:02] He was given a fairly long jail sentence, and he's a [01:06] weak person. And by being weak unlike other people that [01:10] you watch, he's a weak person and what he's trying [01:14] to do is get a reduced sentence. So he's lying about a [01:17] project that everybody knew about. I mean we were very [01:20] open with it. We were Thinking about building a building. I [01:23] guess we had in a form, it was an option, I don't know what [01:26] you'd call it. We decided, I decided ultimately not to [01:30] do it. There would have been nothing wrong if I did do it. If I [01:33] did do it, there would have been nothing wrong, this was [01:35] my business. [ CROSSTALK ] So he's lying, very [01:39] simply, to get a reduced sentence, okay. [ CROSSTALK ] [01:45] I don't know when I decided but somewhere during the [01:48] period of time. I was never very enthused somewhere [01:50] during the period because I was running for President. My [01:54] focus was running for President. But when I run for [01:58] President, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to do [02:00] business. I was doing a lot of different things when I was [02:03] running. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/"},"headline":"Michael Cohen Just Undermined One of Donald Trump's Key Russia Arguments","datePublished":"2018-11-29T20:25:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:16:10.392Z","description":"The President has long claimed that he has no business dealings with Russia","url":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/","keywords":["Donald Trump","russia","onetime","michael cohen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0db5a3233298dd1/6989403986f68e145f6ead3e/michael-cohen-pleads-guilty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0db5a3233298dd1/6989403986f68e145f6ead3e/michael-cohen-pleads-guilty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"michael-cohen-pleads-guilty","caption":"Trump Lawyer Investigation, New York, USA - 29 Nov 2018","creditText":"Julie Jacobson—AP/REX/Shutterstock","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/","name":"Michael Cohen Just Undermined One of Donald Trump's Key Russia Arguments"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Former Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison","description":"Michael Cohen, the former longtime personal lawyer of President Donald Trump, was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Wednesday, taking a parting shot at the President.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vEjDGmJ3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-11-29T16:51:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vEjDGmJ3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/","duration":"PT2M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Calls Michael Cohen a 'Weak Person' Who is 'Lying' After Guilty Plea","description":"President Donald Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is a “weak person” who is “lying” to get a reduced sentence.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/asHraP1E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-11-29T16:41:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/asHraP1E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/","duration":"PT2M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5466878/trump-cohen-russia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```