Donald Trump – who for the past two years was accused of possibly betraying his country to Russia – has claimed he was the victim of “evil and treasonous” acts that no other president should be forced to endure.

“I think Democrats and the liberal media owe the president and they owe the American people an apology,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, told breakfast television. “They wasted two years and created a massive disruption and distraction from things that ... impact everyone’s day-to-day lives.”

On Sunday, after attorney general William Barr said in a letter to Congress that Mr Mueller had found no evidence of collusion but no decision about whether he had obstructed justice, Mr Trump had told reporters he had been subjected to an attempted “illegal takedown”. He suggested Democrats should be investigated.

On Monday, meeting in the Oval Office with Benjamin Netanyahu, where he signed a document that formally recognised Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, he dug in further.

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

“There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things – I would say treasonous things against our country,” he said.

“I will tell you, I love this country. I love this country as much as I can love anything: my family, my country, my god. But what they did, it was a false narrative. It was – it was a terrible thing.”

He added: “We can never let this happen to another president again. I can tell you that. I say it very strongly. Very few people I know could have handled it.”

In his report, the result of almost two years of work, Mr Mueller said he found no evidence of a direct link between what he said were Moscow’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, and the Trump campaign. On the issue of whether the president had obstructed efforts to investigate possible collusion, he set out the case for and against in regard to several incidents.

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Yet, he “determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgement”. In turn, Mr Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, decided the president’s actions did not constitute a prosecutable crime.

Mr Mueller’s conclusions have been a huge disappointment to Democrats, who had been hoping he would uncover Mr Trump had been guilty of nefarious behaviour.

Many of the Democrats seeking their party’s nomination to challenge Mr Trump in 2020, have pointed out what has been released so far is Mr Barr’s summary about Mr Mueller’s investigation – not the special counsel’s report.

“The fact that special counsel Mueller’s report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay,” house speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

“Given Mr Barr’s public record of bias against the special counsel’s inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report.”

Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Monday said Vladimir Putin was ready to improve ties with the United States following the release of Mr Barr’s summary and called on the United States to formally recognise there was no collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign, Reuters said.