THE FACTS

False.

President Trump made a version of this claim on Wednesday morning, misquoting James R. Clapper Jr., who was the director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama. It was not true at the time and it remains inaccurate.

Mr. Clapper was asked on “The View” on Tuesday whether the F.B.I. was spying on Mr. Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election.

“No, they were not. They were spying on, a term I don’t particularly like, but on what the Russians were doing. Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating, trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage or influence, which is what they do,” he responded.

As The New York Times wrote on Wednesday:

“In other words, Mr. Clapper used the word ‘spy’ to describe intelligence gathering on Russian efforts to influence the election. He explicitly denied that the F.B.I. ‘spied’ on Mr. Trump’s campaign.”

Mr. Clapper made several other television appearances following Mr. Trump’s claim on Wednesday. Throughout, he maintained that F.B.I. agents did not infiltrate Mr. Trump’s campaign for political purposes. He also repeatedly called the use of an informant “benign.”