Washington _ Agencies
US President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast Thursday that the US economy would "collapse" if isolated, amid the judicial chaos surrounding the White House master, which led the experts to believe it might be threatened.
Trump´s comments came days after his former lawyer admitted before a federal judge that he had made illegal financial contributions to the Trump election campaign at the president´s request.
"I tell you that in case I was isolated, I think the markets would collapse," said Trump. I think everyone will be very poor. "
The US President then elaborated in remarks about creating jobs and other economic progress, which he said was achieved during his presidency, stressing that if Hillary Clinton wins the 2016 elections, Americans would be in a much worse situation.
"I don´t know how to isolate someone who did a wonderful job," said Trump.
Trump received two strikes on Tuesday, when Cohen pleaded guilty to violations related to the funding of the 2016 presidential election campaign, as well as to the conviction of his former campaign leader Paul Manavert for tax and banking fraud.
The Manavert case was the first to emerge from the investigation of the Russian intervention in the 2016 elections conducted by special investigator Robert Mueller.
But the president seems determined to bypass the storm while the White House is trying to deal with this new hurdle in Trump´s presidency.
The president stressed that he had made no mistake after his lawyer, Cohen, had indicated that he was involved in the payment of 130 and 150,000 dollars to two women who said that they had had a relationship with Trump for their silence, asserting that this was done "at the request of the candidate" Trump and the aim was to avoid spreading information that would have offended the candidate.
Although Cohen did not reveal the names of the two women, he believed that they were the pornographic actress Stothrow Daniels and a casual Playboy magazine, Karen Mcdonagan. As the sums paid to the two mirrors were aimed at influencing the outcome of the elections, they violated US laws governing the financial contributions of the election campaign.
Trump did not give a candid answer in response to a question in Fox News interview about whether Cohen was instructed to provide the money, and said his former lawyer "concluded the agreements", stressing that what Cohen did was "not a crime."
"Violations of the election campaign are not a big deal, frankly," he said.
Trump then said that the sums paid to the two women came from his own money that Cohen was able to reach, and although he was unaware of the matter at the time, he was completely transparent since he revealed it.
Despite a challenging Trump tone, campaign finance expert Kate Belinski of the law firm "Nosaman" said that it was expected that there would be legal consequences for Trump and his campaigning, likely to take the form of a civil complaint before the Federal Election Commission.
In addition to two counts of violations of election campaign funding laws, Cohen also pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump accused his former lawyer of "volatility" saying that he "must be legally banned".
He praised Manavert for not holding a deal with the prosecution as Cohen did. The court convicted manavert of eight counts of financial fraud.
Manavert´s 69-year decision sparked his trial rather than a speculation deal that he hoped for a presidential pardon.
Asked if he was thinking of making such a move, Trump said he was "very respectful of what he did because of what he went through."
"One of my respects to Paul Manafert is so much that he chose his trial," he added.
