(CNN) President Donald Trump publicly broke his silence Thursday morning on the sentencing of his former personal attorney and "fixer" Michael Cohen.

The President did not dispute directing Cohen to make payments to women who accused him of having an affair in order to keep them quiet, but said he did not direct Cohen to break the law while doing so.

"I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law," Trump tweeted.

"It is called 'advice of counsel,' and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made," he added.

During an interview with Fox News that aired later Thursday, Trump dismissed Cohen's more than decade-long work with his company, saying Cohen did "very low-level work" and more public relations than law.

Read More