"Slippery James Comey, the worst FBI Director in history, was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation where, by the way, there was NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)!" Trump said in a Twitter message.
The White House initially said Trump fired Comey on May 9 upon the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton private email server investigation.
But in an interview with NBC News on May 11, Trump said that when he decided to fire Comey, he was thinking of the Russia investigation and said he always planned to fire Comey "regardless" of any recommendation.
READ MORE: Ex-FBI Chief Comey Says It's Not up to Trump to Put Him in Jail
Both Trump and the Kremlin have denied all allegations of collusion, and Moscow has rejected accusations that it interfered in the election as "absurd."