Trump staff 'not happy' after he blindsided them with Michael Cohen reunion: expert

President Donald Trump's team didn't expect him to agree to an interview with his former fixer turned foe Michael Cohen, a White House reporter shared.

During a Thursday appearance on CNN, Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, revealed that Cohen had a reputation in Trump's circle of being unforgivable, which is why insiders were caught off guard when the president signed on for a 40-minute interview with him.

"Trump really never closes the door on almost anyone entirely. Actually, I always said — and others in Trump's world, who would say too when having this conversation — was except for Michael Cohen," Haberman said. "That was because most people believed around Trump that there was just no way that Trump was ever going to get past that trial in 2024."

Haberman was referring to Cohen's testimony that led to Trump's New York criminal conviction for hush money, which Trump is appealing. However, the two appeared to bury the hatchet with an interview that will be released in full later this week.

In a preview of the interview that came out on Thursday, Cohen gushed and reminisced with Trump, calling him "sir" and "boss" while praising his second administration. According to Haberman, Trump's inner circle didn't want the president to reunite with Cohen, though.

"There are a number of people in Trump's world, his staff, former staff, extended advisers, who are — even if they are staying silent about it — within Trump's world, they're not happy about this," Haberman said. "They feel like Cohen, with his various forms of testimony, caused a lot of problems for a bunch of other people."

Trump insiders "are kind of stunned to see him walking away from his own role and that Trump is going on this radio show," Haberman added. She also noted, "Cohen is one of the only people who actually did prison time during all of this...and Trump has expressed some empathy over that, believe it or not."