AFP |
The Fixer
On paper, Michael Cohen’s job seemed straightforward: “personal attorney to President Donald Trump. “But over the course of 20 years, the former personal injury lawyer’s role encompassed a much broader suite of services spokesman, cheerleader, foot soldier, enforcer, cleanup guy and sometimes attorney.
No one could talk up or back up Trump quite like Cohen, who once said Trump was less of a boss and more of a “patriarch” and “mentor. “Their relationship began to turn sour when Cohen was not offered a job in the administration but collapsed completely when Cohen’s legal difficulties were met with studied silence by the world’s most powerful man.
there was perhaps no one who did more to get the businessman elected than Steve Bannon fashioning a far-right and Republican coalition that delivered Trump to power.
Cohen had repeatedly got Trump out of scrapes, but Trump would clearly not return the favor. So tapes of private conversations were leaked, revelations were made and then the tweets started flying. “Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?),” Trump said, apparently trying to compound Cohen’s legal troubles.
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The Strategist
Aside from Trump himself, there was perhaps no one who did more to get the businessman elected than Steve Bannon fashioning a far-right and Republican coalition that delivered Trump to power.
The president dubbed him “Sloppy Steve,” apparently for his militantly casual dress sense, and suggested he “cried when he got fired and begged for his job.”
At the White House, he was Trump’s chief strategist, and first among equals when it came to senior aides. Despite being blamed for the internal feuding and leaks that hobbled the administration in its early days, he left the White House on relatively good terms.
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But his participation in Michael Wolff’s gossipy and extremely damaging book “Fire and Fury” angered Trump. The president dubbed him “Sloppy Steve,” apparently for his militantly casual dress sense, and suggested he “cried when he got fired and begged for his job.” The pair has since reconciled somewhat.
The Senator
When then-senator Jeff Sessions endorsed Trump for president in February 2016, it was a shot in the arm for his unlikely candidature, conferring establishment legitimacy and boosting his primary chances in the conservative south. The pair toured the country, campaigned and traded compliments until Trump tapped him to become attorney general.
when his friend vowed to recuse himself from any cases linked to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election,
But when his friend vowed to recuse himself from any cases linked to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Trump exploded, stating that he should never have given him the job, berating him as “VERY weak” for not investigating Hillary Clinton. But he has not been fired, so far. Yet like many who have feuded with Trump, including his own children, they often come back into the fold.
The Wife
Trump’s first marriage, to Ivana Zelnickova, did not end well. It was sparked by Trump’s affair with Marla Maples who became his second wife and played out publicly in excruciating detail.
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The “billion-dollar blowup” as one tabloid put it, saw demands for the property, leaked stories about child neglect, Maples boasting about how good sex was with Trump and rumors that the businessman disapproved of Ivana’s breast implants. Years on, Ivana claims that she still talks to Trump as much as twice a week, and acts as a “secret adviser.”
© Agence France-Presse