Newly appointed attorney Rudy Giuliani exceeded what any member of Trump's orbit had previously said about the payment within days of joining Trump's legal team.
May 2: "The president repaid it"
In an on-air interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Giuliani said Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment and referred to it as a retainer that was paid "over several months". That revelation contradicted what Trump had been saying for weeks.
"He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know," Giuliani said when asked whether Trump knew the payment was to Daniels. "But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don't burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people."
May 3: "Cohen made it go away"
Opening Trump up to legal jeopardy under campaign finance laws, Giuliani appeared on "Fox & Friends" and said Cohen was being "treated like some kind of villain" for trying to help Trump's family — as opposed to the Trump campaign.
"Imagine if that came out on October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton," Giuliani said. "Cohen made it go away. He did his job."
May 4: "There is no campaign violation"
"There is no campaign violation," Giuliani said in a statement. "The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President's family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not." He added: "My references to the timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters." May 5: "I'm not an expert on the facts yet"
"This is, you know, 1.2 million documents. I've been in the case for two weeks. Virtually one day, in comparison to other people. So I'm not an expert on the facts, yet. I'm getting there," Giuliani said on Fox News. "The fact is there is no way this is a campaign finance violation of any kind, nor was it a loan. It was an expenditure."
He added: "Even if it was a campaign donation, the president reimbursed it fully with a payment of $35,000 a month that paid for that and other expenses. No need to go beyond that. Case over."
May 6: It's possible Cohen paid off other women to stay silent about alleged affairs with Trump
Calling the $130,000 a "nuisance payment," Giuliani told ABC's "This Week" that he didn't know whether Cohen had made other payments, adding, "I would think if it was necessary, yes. He made payments for the president or he's conducted business for the president."
🚨 Giuliani says Trump repaid Cohen the $130,000 used as hush money for Stormy Daniels pic.twitter.com/pqNtZthgwf— Jon Passantino (@passantino) May 3, 2018 JUST IN: Rudy Giuliani issues statement "intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days." https://t.co/IjJDf0JZaQ pic.twitter.com/5HUS1HMIED
— ABC News (@ABC) May 4, 2018