Donald Trump has said “a lot of strong things” will come out as a redacted version of the report into Russian election interference – and the president’s alleged collusion – is made public.

As it emerged attorney general William Barr would hold a press conference on Thursday morning, a full 90 minutes before a blacked-out rendering of Robert Mueller’s report is published, the president said he may have his own, a sign the White House intends to go on the attack from the outset.

“You’ll see a lot of strong things come out tomorrow,” Mr Trump told Washington’s WMAL radio. “Attorney general Barr is going to be doing a press conference. Maybe I’ll do one after that, we’ll see.”

Democrats said Mr Barr’s decision to hold a press conference before the report was released, was an attempt to “spin” a narrative.

As The New York Times reported White House lawyers had been in contact with department of justice officials in recent days, conversations that had helped the president’s legal team prepare for the report's release, Mr Trump again went on the offensive.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

He claimed Mr Barr had done a “fantastic” job in dealing with Mr Mueller’s report and “grabbed it by the horns”. He repeated his own, and Mr Barr’s claims, that his campaign had been spied on by Barack Obama’s administration.

“This should never happen to a president, or to this country, again,” he said.

“What’s happened has been unthinkable … It’s been a disgrace to our country. I hope I going to be able to put this down as one of my greatest achievements.”

Earlier this month, testifying before the Senate appropriations subcommittee, Mr Barr said he believed that “spying on a political campaign is a big deal”.

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Asked to clarify his remarks, he said: “I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I am not suggesting that it wasn’t adequately predicated.”

It is known that the FBI sought and obtained a warrant from a special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, often referred to as a FISA warrant, to monitor Carter Page, the Trump campaign advisor who was suspected of having ties to Russia.

Although Mr Page left Mr Trump’s campaign in September 2016, after articles highlighted his Russian ties, the following month the FBI applied for a warrant to surveil him, CNN reported. The warrant was approved and subsequently renewed three times. Mr Page gave testimony on Capitol Hill and sent a letter to Mr Mueller’s team requesting information about the warrant, but never faced any charges.

Asked by WMAL host Larry O’Connor if he believed Mr Obama “had knowledge of everything that was going on”, Mr Trump said he would leave his answer for another day.

He added: “There are those who say ‘how could it be possible that he did not know’ … I put myself in that category … and it certainly would be had to believe that he did not know what was going on.”

It also emerged two redacted versions of Mr Mueller’s report will be released. Jessie Liu, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a court filing that some legislators will be able to see a less-redacted version of the report.

“The justice department plans to make available for review by a limited number of Members of Congress and their staff a copy of the special counsel’s report without certain redactions,” Ms Liu said.

Late on Wednesday, House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat, said Mr Barr’s decision to brief the White House ahead of the report’s release and to hold a press conference before the public saw its contents, represented “unprecedented steps” to spin things.