WASHINGTON DC — President Donald Trump said Thursday he did not ask FBI Director James Comey to end his investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Trump emphatically said “no” when asked during a joint news conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in the White House’s East Room.
It was Trump’s first time taking questions since his Justice Department named a special counsel to probe Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.
“Well, I respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt,” Trump said when asked about the investigation. “There is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign. But I can always speak for myself and the Russians, zero. I think it divides the country, I think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. So I can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together.”
Trump is both publicly and privately stewing about Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein’s decision to name special counsel. After the White House put out a subdued statement on Wednesday night about former FBI Director Robert Mueller being named special counsel, Trump publicly vented on Thursday morning about the new probe.
“This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history,” he wrote. “With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!”
Trump’s tweets signal his White House — or at least the man in charge — will try to resist Mueller’s investigation, meaning the shadow of investigation will now hang over a White House in need of a morale boost.
Trump has cast himself throughout the Russia investigation as an aggrieved president who is being mistreated by the media.
“No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly,” he said on Wednesday to the United States Coast Guard Academy. “You can’t let them get you down, you can’t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams.”
Trump is reacting to the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the investigation after he fired FBI Director James Comey.
Trump said Thursday that he respects “the entire thing” but said that he personally has no ties to Russia.
He reiterated his earlier comments that the investigation is a “witch hunt.”
Trump says, “we want to bring this country of ours together.”
President Donald Trump made his remarks as he welcomed the president of Colombia to the White House for their first official meeting.
President Juan Manuel Santos is seeking Trump’s support for a peace accord Colombia signed last year with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The rebel group agreed to turn over 30 percent of its arsenal of assault rifles, machine guns and explosives.
During Thursday’s meeting, Trump will likely seek Colombia’s help pressuring Nicolas Maduro, president of neighboring Venezuela, which is being roiled by almost daily protests that have shaken Maduro’s grip on power.
The Trump administration has warned it might impose more sanctions on Venezuelan officials.
Trump may also seek Colombia’s help stemming the flow of drugs into the U.S. from Latin America.
Information from CNN is included in this story.
