Trump ‘100% willing’ to speak under oath on Comey

US President Donald Trump said he is "100%" willing to speak under oath about his conversations with ex-FBI chief James Comey.

Speaking at the White House, Trump denied having asked for Comey's loyalty or for an FBI inquiry into former White House aide Michael Flynn to be dropped.

"James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said, and some of the things he said just weren't true," Trump said.

He added that reporters were “going to ve very disappointed when you hear the answer”.

Comey says that Trump fired him as FBI director last month because of an FBI investigation into an alleged Kremlin plot to sway last year's US election in favour of the current president.

On Thursday, Comey testified to one of several congressional committees that is also looking into the Russia claims.

He said Trump had pressured him to drop a probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, whom Trump fired for misleading the White House over contacts with Moscow's ambassador.

Testifying under oath, the former FBI director also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the president had asked him during a one-to-one dinner at the White House to pledge loyalty.

Nearly 20 million US television viewers tuned in to the explosive testimony.

However, at a press conference on Friday afternoon in the Rose Garden with the visiting president of Romania, Trump cateforically rejected Comey's claims.

He said the former FBI director's testimony showed there was "no collusion, no obstruction".

"I hardly know the man [Comey]," he said. "I'm not going to say, 'I want you to pledge allegiance.'

"Who would do that? Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath? I mean, think of it.

"I hardly know the man. It doesn't make sense."

When asked about whether he had recordings of his conversations with Comey, a claim he hinted at on Twitter last month, the president dodged the question.

"I'll tell you something about that maybe sometime in the very near future," he said on Friday. "I'll tell you about it over a short period of time. I'm not hinting at anything."

Shortly after the press conference, leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said they had asked the White House whether there were any such tapes.

The House panel requested that if the recordings exist they be submitted by 23 June.

Days after he fired Comey on 9 May, Mr Trump tweeted: "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"