FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens as his personal attorney Michael Cohen delivers remarks on his behalf during a campaign stop at the New Spirit Revival Center church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, U.S., September 21, 2016. Picture taken September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was grateful to Special Counsel Robert Mueller for a statement disputing a BuzzFeed News report that Trump directed his former lawyer to lie to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal.

“I appreciate the special counsel coming out with a statement last night. I think it was very appropriate that they did so,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I think that the BuzzFeed piece was a disgrace to our country. It was a disgrace to journalism.”

The statement by Mueller’s office on Friday evening disputed key elements of the BuzzFeed report.