Donald Trump has said that “sick people” collected the c**p that was alleged he was under the influence of Russian agents.

Asked if he had read the summary given to him and President Barack Obama that listed unverified allegations that Russia had compromising and salacious details about him, Mr Trump said he could not reveal what had been said to him in a classified meeting.

However, he added: “It was a disgrace that the information was let out. I read the information, it was fake news, it’s phony news. It was put together by opponents of ours.”

“Sick people put that c**p together,” he added.