WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Thursday that if there was anything illegal about the hush payments made to two women claiming to have had affairs with him, it was the fault of his former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, part of a newly improvised attempt to combat the legal exposure the president may now have because of the payments.
“I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law,” Mr. Trump said. “He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law.”
In a series of Twitter messages sent from the White House residence, Mr. Trump tried again to distance himself from Mr. Cohen, who federal prosecutors say was directed by his boss to make the hush payments to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels at a time in the 2016 campaign when their claims could have been highly damaging.