Donald Trump says Russia probe 'could paint me as a liar'

US President Donald Trump has claimed he fears being made to look like a liar if he agrees to be quizzed by investigators looking into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election .

Mr Trump said he is concerned that special counsel Robert Mueller would use the interview under oath to try to bring perjury charges against him.

Any discrepancies between his account and that of others who have testified in the “Russiagate” probe, such as sacked former FBI director James Comey , could be used against him, the president claimed. “So if I say something and he [Comey] says something, and it’s my word against his, and he’s best friends with Mueller, so Mueller might say, ‘Well, I believe Comey,’ and even if I’m telling the truth, that makes me a liar.

“That’s no good,” he told Reuters news agency.

Mr Trump was echoing earlier claims by his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who said the president could be “trapped into perjury”.

The former New York Mayor was also widely ridiculed on social media for his remark that “truth isn’t truth”. Mr Trump did not say whether he would ultimately agree to be questioned by Mr Mueller over allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia, but he insisted he could take over the investigation if he wanted to.

He said: “I can go in, and I could do whatever — I could run it if I want.

“But I decided to stay out. I’m totally allowed to be involved if I wanted to be. So far, I haven’t chosen to be involved. I’ll stay out.”

The president would not say if he had decided to strip Mr Mueller of his security clearance, as he did for ex-CIA chief John Brennan . “I haven’t given it a lot of thought,” he added.

Mr Trump has repeatedly blasted the independent probe led by Mr Mueller into allegations of collusion with Russia as a “witch hunt”.