(NEXSTAR) — Michael Cohen on Sunday said former President Donald Trump will not run for president in 2024 because it would “destroy the great grift” and limit Trump’s ability to spend money raised through his political action committee.
Cohen, a former personal attorney for Trump, has repeatedly said that he does not believe Trump will ultimately run for president, despite the former president suggesting that he will.
“It would destroy the great grift. If he runs, all the money would then have to go into a campaign fund. People would have to start expressing who they are, and it becomes listed,” Cohen told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi. “They don’t want that anymore than he wants that.”
Cohen added that through a PAC, Trump has “total discretion” over 90 cents out of every dollar.
“It’s a slush fund,” he said. “He can buy himself a new airplane, or he can use the money to fix his old airplane right now.”
Cohen — who served a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2018 to several felonies, including tax evasion and lying to Congress — said last year that Trump’s talk of a 2024 run was a bluff.
“His insatiable need for attention is one reason he continues to flaunt this disingenuous 2024 run,” Cohen told Insider last September. “The other is he’s making more money doing that than anything he has ever done before.”
He predicted Trump would keep fueling speculation about a run until the last minute, citing Democrats or personal matters as the reason to ultimately decide against it.
He will “continue to grift until the very last second” because he “cannot stomach … being a two-time loser,” Trump’s ex-lawyer said in September 2021.
Since losing the 2020 election, Trump has continue to flirt with a 2024 run. In July, the former president said he had made up his mind and the “big decision” was whether to announce before the midterms.
The Hill has reached out to Trump’s team about Cohen’s latest remarks.
Cohen released a new book this month called “Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice Against His Critics.”
In the book, he details his “attempt to clear his name and tell the truth about Donald Trump” and recounts the alleged Stormy Daniels affair and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
