President Donald Trump on Friday said he has answered a list of questions from Robert Mueller about his dealings with Russia and other matters being investigated by the special counsel.

However, the president said he has not yet submitted his responses to the special counsel's office. Trump has long derided the investigation as a "hoax," claiming that there was "no collusion" between his campaign and Russian actors to influence the 2016 presidential election.


Trump also signaled he is confident about his answers and behavior, a rhetorical point he and his legal team have tried to push as the probe is seen as nearing its resolution.

"I've answered them very easily, very easily," Trump said of the questions. "I'm sure they are tricked up, because, you know, they liked to catch people: 'Gee, was the weather sunny or was it rainy? He said it might have been a good day, it was rainy, therefore he told a lie. He perjured himself.'"

"You always have to be careful when you answer questions from people who probably have bad intentions," Trump added.

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Trump also insisted that he personally wrote the answers to the long list of questions — "142 items" — amid speculation that his lawyers wrote the responses. Mueller has been trying to extract answers from Trump for nearly a year, as his office negotiated with presidential attorneys over deposing their client, a proposition Trump roundly rejected.


"The questions were very routinely answered by me," said Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a cybersecurity bill signing. "I haven't submitted them, I just finished them."

Half a dozen people in contact with the White House and other Trump officials have told POLITICO that a deep anxiety has started to settle in at the West Wing and among Trump's allies about Mueller's next steps. His team has already issued indictments against Russian agents and has secured guilty pleas from two people from Trump's inner circle, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort.

Trump allies are steeling themselves to be served indictments from Mueller's team, with CBS reporting Wednesday that the indictments could come as soon as this week. On Thursday, the president fired off a series of notably specific tweets in which he revived his direct attacks on Mueller, calling his investigation a "total mess."

"They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want," Trump wrote.


"A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!" added Trump, using his favorite allegory for the probe.

But on Friday, he insisted he's not worked up about the ongoing probe.

“I’m not agitated," Trump said. "It’s a hoax. The whole thing is a hoax. There was no collusion.”