Cohen: Trump Said 'Women Are Going to Hate Me'

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer and "fixer," took the stand in the former president's hush-money trial on Monday and directly linked Trump to the $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels. Cohen testified that after the release of the Access Hollywood tape ahead of the 2016 election, Trump feared women would hate him if the story of the alleged affair with Daniels also emerged, the Hill reports. He said Trump told him: "This is a disaster. Total disaster. Women are going to hate me"

• Cohen said he encouraged his boss to run for president, but Trump told him: "You know that when this comes out—meaning the announcement—just be prepared. There's going to be a lot of women coming forward," per NBC News. He said that at Trump's direction, he worked with National Enquirer publisher David Pecker to bury stories about allegations of an affair with Karen McDougal and a doorman who claimed to know about a Trump love child.
• Cohen testified that Trump told him it was Melania Trump's idea to spin the Access Hollywood story as "locker room talk," Axios reports. According to the Hill, Trump "shook his head in disagreement at this remark."

• With the Daniels story, Cohen said Trump initially told him to "push it out" past the election, but when Daniels and her lawyer Keith Davidson were frustrated by the delay, Trump told him to "just do it," NBC reports. The Washington Post reports that Cohen said Trump "stated to me that he had spoken to some friends, some individuals, very smart people," and they had said "it's $130,000—you're a billionaire, just pay it." He said Trump told him to meet with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and "figure this whole thing out."
• Cohen described setting up a shell company for the payment to Daniels, saying he didn't tell his bank the reason for the account because he's not sure it would have opened one to "pay off an adult-film star for a nondisclosure agreement," the Post reports. He said he fronted the money for Trump, using a home equity line of credit because his wife, "CEO of the household," would have noticed if he had used their bank account.
• Cohen said he set out the terms of the deal for Trump because "everything required Mr. Trump's sign-off," the New York Times reports. He said that when he wired the money to Davidson, labeling the payment a retainer, he let Trump know "immediately."

• Cohen said he was "unusually angry" after the election, when he found out his year-end bonus had been reduced by two-thirds, NBC reports. He said he was disappointed not to be considered for Trump's chief of staff, though he admitted he wasn't "competent" for the job.
• He said that in a deal approved by Trump just days before his inauguration, Weisselberg worked out a plan for him to be reimbursed a total of $420,000 over a year, including a bonus, the Daniels money, and $50,000 to cover a payment to a tech services company. He said Weisselberg told him the payments—"grossed up" so he would receive full payment after taxes—would be listed as compensation for "legal services rendered."
• The Times notes that Trump had his eyes closed during much of Cohen's afternoon testimony, "but a brief expression of what appeared to be pleasure crossed over his face" when Cohen spoke of his disappointment at the year-end bonus in 2016.
• Cohen will resume testifying for the prosecution Tuesday, with cross-examination from Trump's lawyers to follow.

This story has been updated with new developments. (More Trump hush-money trial stories.)