President Donald Trump told The New York Times in a recent interview that he expects special counsel Robert Mueller III to limit the scope of his investigation.

After claiming that Mueller was one of the people he interviewed for the position of attorney general (which eventually went to Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama), Trump said that he would consider to be a "red line" if Mueller began investigating his family finances.

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"By the way, I would say, I don’t — I don’t — I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows?" Trump said. "I don’t make money from Russia. In fact, I put out a letter saying that I don’t make — from one of the most highly respected law firms, accounting firms. I don’t have buildings in Russia. They said I own buildings in Russia. I don’t. They said I made money from Russia. I don’t. It’s not my thing. I don’t, I don’t do that."

In a 2007 deposition, Trump said, "It's ridiculous that I wouldn't be investing in Russia."

He added, "Over the years, I’ve looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there eight, nine years [crosstalk]."

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When then asked if he would fire Mueller should he "went outside of certain parameters of what his charge his," Trump replied that "I can’t, I can’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s going to happen."

In response to an earlier question about what he would consider to be Mueller crossing the line, Trump gave a rambling reply attacking former FBI Director James Comey, complaining that Comey "illegally leaked" in order to get Mueller appointed as special counsel.