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Michael Cohen says Trump will 'do anything' to stay in office, even start a war

The president's former lawyer spoke in an exclusive interview with NBC's Lester Holt ahead of the release of his tell-all memoir next week.
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Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen said Friday he believes his former boss will "do anything and everything" to win re-election and "even go so far as to start a war" to remain in office.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News' Lester Holt, Cohen was asked if he thought Trump would win in November.

"So Donald Trump will do anything and everything within which to win. And I believe that includes manipulating the ballots," Cohen said.

"I believe that he would even go so far as to start a war in order to prevent himself from being removed from office," Cohen continued. "My biggest fear is that there will not be a peaceful transition of power in 2020."

Watch more of NBC's interview with Cohen on Tuesday on "TODAY" and the "Nightly News with Lester Holt."

Cohen, who worked for Trump for years as his personal lawyer and self-described "fixer," began serving a three-year prison sentence last year for financial crimes and lying to Congress. He was released in July to serve the rest of his sentence at home following concerns that unsafe prison conditions could put him at risk for coronavirus.

Cohen turned on his boss in spectacular fashion, calling him a "con man" and "a cheat" during dramatic testimony before Congress last year. He's written a book about his time working for Trump called, "Disloyal, a Memoir." It goes on sale Tuesday.

In a statement, the White House called Cohen's book "fan fiction" and said, "He readily admits to lying routinely but expects people to believe him now so that he can make money from book sales."