US President Donald Trump told Russian officials that firing FBI director James Comey eased “great pressure” on him, US media report.
The New York Times, citing a document summarising last week’s meeting, says he called Mr Comey a “real nut job”.
Mr Comey had been running an inquiry into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s election campaign.
The ex-FBI chief has agreed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the investigation.
The latest report was published just as Mr Trump took
off on a flight to the Middle East for the first leg of his first foreign tour as president.
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the report.
“I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
The White House has not disputed the language used in the meeting at the Oval Office between Mr Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
In another development, the Washington Post reported that a current White House official is a “significant person of interest” in the investigation into alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
It quoted unnamed sources familiar with the investigation as saying it was someone “close to the president” but they would not identify them further. The White House has denied there was collusion between the campaign and any “foreign entity”.
Evidence mounts – Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter
Donald Trump called the ongoing Russia investigation a “witch hunt”, but reporters have just found a boiling cauldron and a closet full of broomsticks.
The key takeaway from these latest blockbuster stories – there have been so many this week it’s hard to keep count – is there’s now further evidence of Mr Trump’s intent to dismiss FBI Director James Comey because of his handling of the ongoing Russia investigation.
That this revelation came as a result of a meeting with Russian officials, one of whom is a key figure in the investigation, is just the icing on the cake.
