NYT reporter explains why Michael Cohen's thuggish threats to reporter is all part of Trump's plan

The New York Times' Maggie Haberman explained to CNN's John Berman and Alisyn Camerota Friday that a tape of the president's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen threatening a reporter in 2015 likely didn't faze Donald Trump.

"There is zero chance that the president would have been unhappy with that response, then-citizen Trump," the reporter known for her access to the Oval Office told the hosts. "This is what he wanted Michael Cohen to be doing."

While writing a story on since-recanted claims of marital rape by Trump's ex-wife Ivana, NPR's Tim Mak, then of The Daily Beast, reached out to the attorney for comment. Instead, he got threats.

"I’m warning you, tread very f***ing lightly because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f***ing disgusting," Cohen told Mak in the recording. "Do you understand me? Don’t think you can hide behind your pen because it’s not going to happen.”

Camerota noted that the tape allowed the public to see "what the president got for the price of a pit bull," and Haberman agreed.

"It is very dangerous when people threaten reporters that way," she added.

Watch below, via CNN: