Why Donald Trump Once Angrily Called Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen is no stranger to drama with other public figures, and he's spoken pretty candidly about some of his not-so-great moments with Donald Trump over the years. However, when the "Watch What Happens Live" host received an angry phone-call from the businessman-turned-politician, it had nothing to do with anything Cohen did. As it turns out, Teresa Giudice said something on Cohen's late night talk show that ruffled Trump's feathers. Taking to his SiriusXM radio show, "Andy Cohen Live," in July 2024, the executive producer of the "Real Housewives" franchise explained that during one episode of "WWHL," Giudice made a snarky comment about how much Trump was actually worth. More specifically, she referred to the former president as: "Broke" (via Reality Tea).  

It's long been said that the Trump family isn't worth as much as many may think, but let's just say the businessman was less than thrilled by the comment. It's possible that Trump felt so strongly about it because he thought Giudice's previous stint on "The Celebrity Apprentice" and the fact that she'd spoken about being friendly with his family added credibility to the claims. Either way, he got on a call with Cohen, and as the king of Bravo recalled on "Andy Cohen Live," the conversation was a pretty intense one. "He was really p***ed [...] He was very, at the time, sensitive about people saying he was broke. That was a huge thing for him," Cohen recounted. Even so, the host made it clear to Trump that he wasn't the person to reach out to if he wanted a retraction (or an apology).

Andy Cohen wasn't the one responsible for calling Donald Trump broke, so it's no surprise that he advised the controversial politician to reach out to Teresa Guidice directly instead. "Somehow I said, 'Listen, you need to talk to Teresa about this,'" he explained (via Reality Tea). Cohen believed the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star did end up retracting what she'd said publicly, but we can't find any record of that (or, curiously, even a clip of her saying it in the first place, for that matter). It is worth noting that other than the time she referred to Trump as broke, Giudice has had nothing but nice things to say about him. 

In fact, during a 2016 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," she confirmed that he was her top pick for that year's election, enthusing, "Of course I'm going to vote for Donald Trump [...] I think he's amazing. I think he'll make a great president." Cohen made it clear that he wasn't planning on doing the same, quipping, "I haven't decided yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm not voting for Donald Trump." As for the reality star's stance once Trump won, she told People that she'd emailed his family to send her well-wishes on his new job. Wonder if Trump's call to her played any role in that decision?

Teresa Giudice may have gone on to give Donald Trump glowing commendations after initially decrying him as secretly poor, but Andy Cohen isn't quite as enamored with the former president. In fact, in an interview with People, he shared that even before Trump went into politics, he'd both interviewed him and worked for him as a pageant host. Needless to say, the "WWHL" host isn't his biggest fan. This despite Cohen pointing out that in their first encounter, Trump was actually very friendly. Regardless though, Cohen didn't warm to him. In fact, he joked, "It was in my deal that I wouldn't appear in a photograph with him because I didn't want to be associated with him." 

Cohen also turned down the opportunity to fly to pageant gigs on Trump's private jet, reasoning simply, "I chose to fly commercially instead, because I got such a bad vibe off of him." The final straw for their working relationship came when he declined to host the 2016 Miss Universe pageant in Russia. Cohen's refusal was headline news at the time but as he pointed out to People, Trump gave a direct comment to Page Six claiming that he wasn't meant to host in the first place. 

Sure enough, the outspoken politician informed the outlet, "We haven't asked Andy Cohen to host the pageant in Russia, but I can understand his feelings on the matter." Trump and Giudice may have made nice after her comment, but we think it's safe to assume he and Cohen are unlikely to ever be besties.