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Trump had sued Cohen in April seeking at least $500 million in
damages from his onetime loyal "fixer" after Cohen testified
before a Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump.
"Plaintiff, President Donald J. Trump, by and through
undersigned counsel, hereby gives notice that .... he is
voluntarily dismissing this action without prejudice," Trump's
legal team said in a court filing made in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Trump was scheduled to be deposed by Cohen on Monday. Cohen's
legal team welcomed Trump's filing to dismiss the lawsuit.
Cohen had asked the court in May to throw out the lawsuit
against him, calling it an "abusive act of pure retaliation and
witness intimidation." Cohen reiterated on Thursday the lawsuit
was "nothing more than a retaliatory intimidation tactic."
Trump sued Cohen on April 12, eight days after pleading not
guilty to 34 criminal charges from the Manhattan district
attorney's office over a $130,000 hush money payment to porn
star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election that
Trump won. That marked the first of Trump's four indictments.
His other three indictments are related to his attempts to
overturn Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory
and his handling of classified documents after he left the White
House. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the cases.
A Trump spokesperson said the former president was temporarily
pausing his legal fight with Cohen due to his other legal cases
and that he would resume his claims later.
Trump is the frontrunner in the race for the Republican
presidential nomination for the 2024 elections.
Cohen served part of a three-year prison term after pleading
guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and tax evasion.
His 2020 book "Disloyal: A Memoir" was a New York Times'
best-seller.
Trump's lawsuit accused Cohen of violating rules governing
lawyers' conduct by revealing his "confidences" and "spreading
falsehoods" in books, podcasts and media appearances.
It also said that Cohen had damaged Trump's reputation.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Sandra
Maler and Michael Perry)
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