Rudy Giuliani says Trump repaid Stormy Daniels hush money

During an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, Rudy Giuliani said President Trump reimbursed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, the $130,000 he paid adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an affair she said she had with Trump in 2006.
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and one of the newest members of Trump's legal team, told the Fox News host that the money was "funneled" through a law firm, and Trump "knew the general arrangement" but not the "specifics." The money was "paid by his lawyer the way I would do it," he continued, "out of his law firm funds or whatever funds, it doesn't matter, and the president reimbursed that over a period of several months."
Hannity said he "distinctly" remembered Cohen saying "he did it on his own," to which Giuliani responded, "He did?" Quickly, Giuliani added, "Look, I don't know, I haven't investigated that, there's no reason to dispute his recollection." Trump has said he knew nothing about Cohen's payment to Daniels. Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell he was rendered "speechless" by Giuliani's admission.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Pakistan's solar panel boom
Under The Radar A 'perfect storm' has created a solar 'revolution' in the south Asian country
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábrego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies
-
Canada's Liberals, Carney win national election
Speed Read The party of Prime Minister Mark Carney beat Conservative Pierre Poilievre thanks in part to Trump's trade war