Roy Cohn, the infamous and unprincipled lawyer, was the key figure in young Donald Trump’s formative years. Their friendship started with Trump’s search for Cohn’s guidance as a fledgling real estate mogul. It was during this apprenticeship when Cohn opened the door to Trump’s initiation into a cutthroat universe. There, wealth and influence was predicated on intimidation, trickery, and extraction.
Cohn’s lessons stressed a particularly brutal, intimidating style that struck the right chord with Trump. He instilled in him the belief that integrity could be sacrificed for loyalty, a sentiment Trump later articulated in his book, “The Art of the Deal.” As Trump’s “fixer,” Cohn wove a web through the corridors of power with the corrupt alike, from politicians to judges to mob bosses. Cohn’s Rolodex helped supercharge Trump’s wildest dreams. It fostered an aesthetic that valued an anti-intellectual hostility to competent principle.
Cohn’s legacy is fraught with controversy. The New York State Bar disbarred him for the deceptive, fraudulent, and dishonest practice of law. He tried to defraud a dying client by pressuring him into signing an amendment to his will that greatly benefited Cohn. While these indiscretions would have doomed any other political appointee, he was loyal to both Trump and his father, Fred. Cohn died tragically and in disgrace, yet his influence on Trump continued to loom large.
Just last week, Trump was all but gloating over a good jobs report—music to the ears of all Cohn-like braggadocios. One of these nominees, EJ Antoni, made waves with a September statement that mirrored this same brand of fact-free defiance. He claimed, “all net job growth over the last year went to native-born Americans,” a statement criticized for its misleading nature.
Emil Bove, another Trump nominee, reportedly encouraged subordinates at the Department of Justice to adopt a confrontational stance against judicial authority. He pushed them to “be willing to tell the courts to ‘fuck you,’” channeling Cohn’s aggressive approach. Such comments are symptomatic of the way the tactics Cohn used have found a permanent home within the ethos of Trump’s administration.
Consumer advocates have criticized confirmations like Cohn’s for foreshadowing what we can expect from Trump’s nominees. It is hardly surprising that economists from all points on the political spectrum have eviscerated EJ Antoni for his blatant cluelessness and ineptitude. This critique resonates with Hannah Arendt’s observations in “The Origins of Totalitarianism.” Together, she portrays people like Cohn as “crackpots and fools” whose profound lack of depth (sorry) guarantees their permanent allegiance.
Trump’s preference for Cohn’s approach has had lasting repercussions on his leadership style and the people he surrounds himself with. He openly admired Cohn’s ability to play outside the lines of ethics and propriety. “What I liked most about Roy Cohn was that he would do just the opposite,” Trump remarked, highlighting his admiration for Cohn’s audacity.
Though Cohn’s tactics clearly worked for him throughout his life, they were just as much responsible for his eventual demise. His career ended in scandal, but for many of those qualities, Trump’s career has followed a similar trajectory. Both men stood for a type of leadership that puts loyalty and toughness ahead of honesty and moral leadership.