Robert Mueller to grill Donald Trump in a few weeks

Donald Trump says he is looking forward to being interviewed under oath by special counsel Robert Mueller.

‘I’d love to do it’: Donald Trump yesterday. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump says he is looking forward to being interviewed under oath by special counsel Robert Mueller because he has not been involved in any collusion with Russia or obstruction of ­justice.

The assertive claim by the US President was made shortly before he flew to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and comes as Mr Mueller has stepped up his questioning of key figures in the administration.

“I am looking forward to it, ­actually,” Mr Trump said, when asked if he was going to talk to Mr Mueller.

“Here is the story: There has been no collusion whatsoever. There is no obstruction whatsoever. And I am looking forward to it. I guess they’re talking about two or three weeks (away), but I’d love to do it.”

Although Mr Trump pointed out that the FBI did not interview his former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton under oath during the FBI probe into her misuse of emails, he would be will be giving sworn evidence to Mr Mueller.

“I would do it under oath. I would do it,” he said.

However, the President also said his co-operation with Mr Mueller was “subject to my ­lawyers”.

His comments yesterday ­appear to end speculation about whether the interview would go ahead.

Mr Trump has previously given mixed signals on whether he would give evidence, saying earlier this year that he would be “100 per cent” happy to do so but then saying recently that he was “unlikely” to give an interview.

However, the President’s lawyers are anxious to exert some control over the manner of any ­interview with Mr Trump and are ­reluctant to agree to a free-ranging interview without guidelines in place. They also reportedly want Mr Trump to answer some ­questions in writing rather than verbally.

There is no indication of how long such an interview would last. In 1998, a grand jury quizzed president Bill Clinton for four hours on a wide range of topics including about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The attempt to interview the President comes as the Mueller investigation zones in on the White House in its Russia investigation.

Mr Mueller has recently ­interviewed Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and he will soon interview former Trump chief strategist Steve ­Bannon, who was fallen out with the President.

Mr Mueller wants to question the President about his decision in May to sack FBI director James Comey at a time when he was overseeing the FBI’s probe into Russia’s interference in the US election and its links to the Trump campaign team.

Mr Trump said initially Mr Comey was sacked because of his handling of the Clinton email controversy but later admitted that when he fired him, he was thinking about “this Russia thing”.

Mr Mueller is also set to question him about Mr Comey’s claim that during a meeting with the Mr Trump the President pressured him to drop the FBI’s investigation into the recently sacked national security adviser Michael Flynn.

“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy,” Mr Trump said, according to Mr Comey.

Mr Flynn has since pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials.

Mr Mueller’s investigation into whether the President obstructed justice in these actions came about after Mr Trump sacked the FBI chief, prompting Mr Comey to go public with his claims about the President’s behaviour.

Mr Mueller is also expected to ask Mr Trump about the relationship between his campaign team and Russia during the 2016 election and transition period.

Mr Trump has maintained that there was no collusion between his team and Moscow.

Cameron Stewart is The Australian’s Washington correspondent and US contributor for Sky News Australia