The Latest: Trump suggests 'flipping' should be 'illegal'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

7 a.m.

President Donald Trump is suggesting that it should be illegal for people facing prosecution to cooperate with the government in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Trump is reacting to the guilty plea entered by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to a range of charges.

Trump — in an interview with "Fox & Friends" — is accusing Cohen of implicating him to get a better deal with prosecutors. Trump says Cohen "makes a better deal when he uses me."

Trump claims people who decide to cooperate with the government "make up stories" and "just make up lies"

Here's what the president says: "It's called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal." He says "it's not a fair thing."

___

6:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is distancing himself from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the wake of Cohen's guilty plea to eight charges, including campaign finance violations that Cohen says he carried out in coordination with Trump.

Trump — in an interview with "Fox & Friends" — describes Cohen as a "part-time attorney." And Trump also suggests that Cohen's legal trouble stemmed from his other businesses, including involvement with the New York City taxi cab industry.

Trump claims that Cohen decided to offer "lies" about Trump to reduce Cohen's own legal exposure.

___

12:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump is digging in to his denials of wrongdoing as his White House struggles to manage the fallout from allegations he orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who say they had affairs with him.

In pre-dawn tweeting, Trump says "NO COLLUSION - RIGGED WITCH HUNT!" That's a reference to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

And the president is accusing his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, of "making up stories" in order to get a "great deal" from prosecutors.