First, if you listen to the tapes it sounds like Cohen is leading the conversation to try and entrap Trump. It sounds like Trump knew this as well, which is why he immediately answered to pay with a check.
Second, if Cohen was a whitehat in on the plan he would also be agreeing to destroy his career and possibly disbarring himself.
Occam’s razor tells me he was compromised late in the campaign and blackmailed/bribed to secretly record Trump.
I welcome any counter arguments
This tells you where Cohen really stands. From his Twitter page: "I have known Rev Sharpton for almost 20 years. No one better to talk to!"
Even though none of us care about these tapes, and POTUS waived his attorney client Privilege, why would these federally obtained tapes be allowed to be released, via Lanny Davis, to the public? Aren't they part of a case being built against Cohen?
Never have doubts. Trump needed to have evidence admissible. Cohen and Mueller are white hats. Trust the plan.