ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Trump has “no intention” of firing Robert Mueller as special counsel leading the Russia investigation, the White House said Tuesday.

“While the president has the right to, he has no intention to do so,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters flying with Trump back to Washington from a day trip to Wisconsin.

The comment is intended to tamp down speculation about whether the president would ax Mueller, which would be a politically explosive move that could further embroil his administration in controversy.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have called on Trump not to fire Mueller after a close friend of the president's, Chris Ruddy, said in interviews this week that Trump was considering terminating the special counsel investigating possible ties between his campaign and Moscow.