WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump says it “seems unlikely” he will be required to give testimony before Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election and possible collusion by associates of Trump.
Speaking in a joint news conference with visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg (EDS: a woman) on January 10, Trump reiterated his claim that there was "no collusion" between his presidential campaign and Russia.
Given that, he said, "We'll see what happens [but] it seems unlikely you'd even have an interview."
Trump’s comments come after U.S. media reported that Mueller had informed the White House that he probably will seek to interview Trump as part of his probe.
Citing people familiar with the matter, media reported late on January 8 that Mueller's investigative team informed Trump's lawyers during recent discussions that an interview likely would be sought soon, but no date has been set and no arrangements for the meeting have been made.
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to the benefit of Republican Trump and to the detriment of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Mueller and at least three congressional committees are separately investigating Russian involvement in the election process.
The Kremlin has denied the accusations, and Trump has repeatedly denied that his team colluded with any Russian efforts.
Trump also said on January 10 that the United States could "conceivably" return to the 2015 Paris climate accord on curbing global warming emissions, a deal he pulled out of in June.
"Frankly, it's an agreement that I have no problem with, but I had a problem with the agreement that they signed, because, as usual, they made a bad deal," Trump said.
"So, we can conceivably go back in," he added, without giving specifics.
Solberg said Norway remains committed to the accord and that she believes the focus on a green economy can lead to great investment opportunities.
