Trump threatens Comey: ‘Better hope’ there are no tapes of our conversations

President Trump threatened former FBI Director James Comey around the possibility that their private conversations were recorded.

In a tweet Friday morning, Trump wrote, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”

[ Related: Five big questions about Trump’s decision to fire Comey ]

Trump said in an interview with NBC News Thursday that Comey told him once at dinner and twice over the telephone that he wasn’t under investigation. A New York Times story published Thursday evening reported that Trump had asked Comey at a private January dinner to pledge loyalty to the new president. Comey declined and said that he would be “honest” with the president.

Trump and Comey. (Photos: Evan Vucci/AP, Susan Walsh/AP)
Trump and Comey. (Photos: Evan Vucci/AP, Susan Walsh/AP)

The series of tweets come as the White House scrambles to deny that it intentionally misled Americans over the series of events that led to Comey’s termination on Tuesday. Administration officials initially said Comey was terminated on the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, but Trump contradicted that message himself on Thursday by saying that he was going to fire Comey regardless of Rosenstein’s opinion.

The Comey comments were part of a longer series of tweets sent out Friday morning as the president vented on social media, and included a suggestion that he could cancel all future White House press briefings.