Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said he thinks President Trump was trying to "rattle" former FBI Director James Comey by suggesting there might be recordings of their conversations.

"I think he was, in his way, instinctively trying to rattle Comey," Gingrich told The Associated Press.

"He's not a professional politician. He doesn't come back and think about Nixon and Watergate. His instinct is: 'I'll outbluff you.' "

ADVERTISEMENT

Trump first alluded to the possible existence of tapes of his conversations with Comey in a tweet days after he fired Comey.

“James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Trump tweeted.

Since then, Trump and his top aides have refused to say whether there are actually recordings of the interactions.