President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE reportedly pressured Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE at least four times last year to retake control of the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Axios reported on Thursday that three of those times were in person, while one attempt happened during a phone call.

The president never explicitly ordered Sessions to reclaim control of the probe, according to the Axios report, though he repeatedly asked Sessions if he had "thought about" it.

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Trump also reportedly told Sessions that he would be a "hero" to conservatives if he stepped back in to the Russia investigation and launched a probe into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot Poll: 51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college MORE.

One source told Axios that the president's conversations with Sessions about un-recusing himself happened throughout the year, until fairly late in 2017.

The New York Times reported this week on one such attempt by Trump during a dinner with Sessions in March 2017, in which the president reportedly told Sessions to reverse his recusal.

The other three attempts have not been previously reported.

Sessions stepped aside from the Russia investigation in March 2017, citing his role in the Trump campaign as a potential conflict of interest.

That decision put Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Rod RosensteinDOJ kept investigators from completing probe of Trump ties to Russia: report Five takeaways from final Senate Intel Russia report FBI officials hid copies of Russia probe documents fearing Trump interference: book MORE in control of the probe. Rosenstein appointed special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE to carry out the investigation in May, after Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey James Brien ComeyDemocrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate Book: FBI sex crimes investigator helped trigger October 2016 public probe of Clinton emails Trump jabs at FBI director over testimony on Russia, antifa MORE.

Trump has fumed both publicly and privately over Sessions's recusal. On Wednesday, Trump issued his latest rebuke of Sessions, saying that he wished he had chosen someone else to serve as his attorney general.