President Donald Trump has appeared to promote conspiracy theories about the Democratic National Committee and Russia.

Mr Trump asked in a tweet: "Is it true the DNC would not allow the FBI access to check server or other equipment after learning it was hacked? Can that be possible?"

He followed that up by asking: "Who was it that secretly said to Russian President, "Tell Vladimir that after the election I'll have more flexibility?"

The DNC reportedly "did not allow" the FBI to examine its hacked computer servers before the intelligence agency issued a report blaming Russia as the culprit.

“The FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the necessity of obtaining direct access to servers and data, only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise had been mitigated,” Buzzfeed reported an FBI statement as saying.

“This left the FBI no choice but to rely upon a third party for information. These actions caused significant delays and inhibited the FBI from addressing the intrusion earlier.”

Mr Trump jumped on the news, tweeting further doubt about whether Russia was involved.

Mr Trump's second tweet is a reference to former President Barack Obama telling then Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in 2012 he would have "more flexibility" after his election to negotiate issues such as missile defence.

It comes after White House officials reportedly said they have no idea where he got his information from when he claimed Mr Obama had wire-tapped his phones during the election.