Donald Trump. Pool/Getty Images

President Donald Trump threatened James Comey, the ousted FBI director, in a Friday morning tweet.

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

In an interview Thursday with NBC News' Lester Holt, Trump said he had a handful of conversations with Comey in which the FBI director assured him he was not under investigation. Comey hasn't made similar comments publicly.

The only in-person instance Trump described was a conversation at a "nice dinner" in which the president's status was discussed.

The New York Times reported Thursday that during that dinner, Trump asked Comey to pledge his loyalty.

Comey declined to do so at least twice during the dinner, The Times reported, citing two people close to Comey who The Times said had knowledge of the conversation. A "source close to Comey" told NBC Friday the ousted FBI Director "hopes there are tapes. That would be perfect."

Also in the Thursday NBC interview, Trump trampled on the White House narrative about why Comey was fired, insisting that he would've fired Comey regardless of the recommendation he received from the Department of Justice and saying the FBI's investigation into whether Trump campaign associates colluded with Russian officials factored into his decision.

Top White House officials such as Vice President Mike Pence and deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have insisted Trump acted on the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and decided to fire Comey only after he received a letter criticizing Comey's handling of the investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

His tweet threatening Comey was part of a lengthy tweetstorm on Friday morning, most of which he aimed at the "fake media." Trump also suggested he would cancel press briefings, saying that "as a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!"

"When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?" Trump tweeted about half an hour after his tweet targeting Comey.

Bryan Logan contributed to this report.

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