President Donald Trump is planning to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as he continues to grapple with a growing number of allegations of misconduct and intimidation against him, including the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
Trump’s response to the controversy came Monday in an interview with The Washington Post, where he said he was planning to “stand with my country” and “stand strong.”
But Trump’s comments also came as he continued to fight back against a series of new allegations of corruption in the FBI investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, which have led to his firing of Comey.
“We will stand with the people of this country, and we will stand strong, and it’s a beautiful day,” Trump said Monday.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his firing Comey, calling the director a “showboat” who has “done nothing wrong.”
The president’s remarks came amid a barrage of new accusations from a slew of sources about his handling of the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election.
The Post first reported on Monday that Comey had been dismissed in a letter to Congress, and that Trump had threatened to subpoena Comey if he did not resign.
Trump responded on Twitter, calling Comey “a showboat” and asking if he knew the truth about his firing.
Comey has been fired by me, he’s a showboat.
He has been treated very, very unfairly by the Democrats.
I have great respect for him.
He is a man of honor.
He will be back in a week.
He can ask for a raise and he can ask to be let go, and he will, and I will stand up for him, and with the strength of the people, we will.
– Trump on Comey’s firing letter on Twitter in early JanuaryThe Post reported that Trump fired Comey “without any notice to the President or his staff,” and that he had no plan to hold him accountable.
The White House said Monday that Trump “will not be commenting further” on the Comey firing.
The president has repeatedly suggested that Comey was fired for political reasons.
“James Comey was the best man for the job,” Trump told a crowd in Cincinnati on Jan. 5.
“We fired him because he was a showboating, an ungrateful guy.
He was a political hack, and you know that.
He shouldn’t be there.
He’s a political hater.
We have to take care of ourselves.”