President Trump Says He Would Testify Under Oath That Comey Lied (Replay)

WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump reiterated his view that former FBI Director James Comey lied under oath to the Senate during a joint press conference Friday with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis Eastern at the White House. Asked whether he would testify to that fact under oath, Trump said he would, potentially committing himself to testimony before Special Counsel Robert Mueller. You can watch a replay of the event below.

The press conference was the media's first chance to ask Trump questions publicly since Comey delivered his highly anticipated testimony before the Senate on Thursday, during which he accused the president of lies and described the extensive concerns he had about Trump's relationship with the bureau. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

When asked why Trump said Comey's testimony made him feel "vindicated," Trump said that Comey confirmed a lot of what he said and that a lot of what Comey said wasn't true. He also called Comey a "leaker." "No obstruction, no collusion," he said. He said that he never asked Comey for loyalty, as Comey said, and he never told Comey he hoped he would drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Since he was accusing Comey of lying under oath, a reporter asked if Trump would be willing to contradict Comey under oath. Trump said he would.

But he also said that even if he had asked Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, there would have been nothing wrong with it.

When asked whether he has tapes of his conversations with Comey or others, Trump said he might give that answer sometime soon.

"I’ll tell you about that maybe sometime in the near future, ” he said. When he was later pressed on this question, he said the answer would be disappointing.

Asked whether the two discussed the issue of visa waivers, Trump said it didn't come up. Iohannis then contradicted the president; the Romanian president said he has brought up the issue in their talks.

Discussing NATO, Trump said he was committed to Article 5, a part of the treaty that pledges all NATO members to recognize an attack against one as an attack against all. Trump had previously declined to offer support for Article 5 specifically when he spoke at NATO headquarters, a move which sparked widespread criticism.

Trump also addressed the continuing crisis in the Arab Gulf surrounding the blockade of Qatar. He said Qatar has been a "funder of terrorism at a very high level."

He continued: "I decided, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, our great generals... the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding." In a press statement before Trump's press conference, Tillerson had called for easing the blockade.

Watch the joint press conference with President Iohannis here:

Trump also delivered remarks on Friday at the Department of Transportation at around 11:30 a.m. Eastern. You can watch the those remarks here:

Write a letter to the editor of the White House Patch.

Like The White House Patch Facebook Page.

Follow us on Twitter.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images