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President Donald Trump on Thursday said he wanted to read aloud the summary of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a „fireside chat on live television.“

Speaking with the conservative outlet Washington Examiner, Trump remained defiant about participating in the impeachment proceedings against him and maintained that he did nothing wrong.

Over a dozen witnesses have been interviewed in the House impeachment inquiry.

On Thursday, the House passed a resolution formalizing the inquiry, signaling a transition into a more public phase.

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President Donald Trump on Thursday said he wanted to read aloud the rough transcript of his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a „fireside chat on live television.“

Trump gave an 80-minute interview with the conservative site Washington Examiner in the Oval Office, in which he remained defiant about participating in the impeachment proceedings against him, which were sparked by the contents of the call.

Speaking with editors and writers from the Examiner, Trump said he would be happy to read aloud the summary the White House released of the call with Zelensky.

„This is over a phone call that is a good call,“ Trump told the outlet. „At some point, I’m going to sit down, perhaps as a fireside chat on live television, and I will read the transcript of the call, because people have to hear it. When you read it, it’s a straight call.“

The call was the subject of an anonymous whistleblower complaint filed in August that accused Trump of „using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election,“ in particular asking Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden to aid Trump politically.

In the days leading up to the call, Trump ordered his administration to withhold nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. Among other things, House investigators are working to determine whether there was quid pro quo arrangement in which Trump would release the aid money to Ukraine in exchange for political investigations.

The White House has said it will not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, and Trump has denied any wrongdoing, calling the call „perfect.“

On Thursday, the House passed a resolution formalizing the impeachment inquiry, signaling a transition into a more public phase.

Trump defended his decision not to cooperate in the proceedings, saying that taking part would set „a terrible precedent for other presidents.“ Only two presidents, Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, have been impeached, and neither was removed from office. Richard Nixon resigned amid an impeachment inquiry.

„Everybody knows I did nothing wrong,“ he told the Examiner. „Bill Clinton did things wrong; Richard Nixon did things wrong. I won’t go back to Johnson because that was a little before my time. But they did things wrong. I did nothing wrong.“

Trump also declined to change his strategy on responding to the impeachment investigation, calling it a „con job“ and „a sham.“

„I already have good people,“ he said. His attitude contrasts the Clinton White House, which strictly limited discussion about the proceedings when it was dealing with impeachment and set up a „war room“-like rapid-response team.

„Clinton was different. He was guilty,“ Trump told the Examiner. „This is a simpler case than his.“

Over a dozen witnesses have been interviewed in the inquiry. On Tuesday, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the White House National Security Council, testified that he twice registered concerns about Trump and his inner circle’s dealings with Ukraine, which he recalled fearing would „undermine US national security.“