WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump took an unusual step Saturday: He thanked Robert Mueller.

Normally a critic over the Russia investigation, Trump said he is gratified that Mueller and the special counsel's office disputes a highly publicized news report that had accused the president of ordering former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.

"I appreciate the special counsel coming out with a statement last night," the president told reporters at the White House. "I think it was very appropriate that they did so, I very much appreciate that."

In a rare public statement, Mueller's office on Friday criticized a BuzzFeed News report saying that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the timing of talks on a proposed Trump project in Russia.

"BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate," said Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller's office.

Trump, speaking with reporters on the South Lawn, railed against BuzzFeed and the media as a whole, saying journalists have lost "tremendous credibility."

"I think that the Buzzfeed piece was a disgrace to our country. It was a disgrace to journalism, and I think also that the coverage by the mainstream media was disgraceful," the president said, adding that it "hurts" him to see the media lose its credibility.

BuzzFeed's bombshell story took over the news cycle and cable news shows had wall-to-wall coverage of both the impact of the report and the legal jeopardy it put the president in.

Democrats vowed an investigation while some called for the start of impeachment proceedings.

But on Friday, Mueller's office took the unprecedented step of calling out the story.

Despite worldwide coverage and big interest, Mueller's office has stayed mostly quiet on reports regarding the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The BuzzFeed report alleged that Trump instructed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Organization’s pursuit of a deal to build a luxury residential high-rise in the center of Moscow, hoping to conceal these actions during his presidential bid.

The story also asserted that Mueller's office knew of the president's alleged actions after obtaining information through internal emails, text messages and multiple interviews.

The report revived discussions about the possibility of impeaching Trump and emboldened House Democrats who vowed to investigate the allegations.

While Mueller's office disputed how BuzzFeed characterized statements, documents and testimony in its story, the statement did not include specifics or a sweeping denial of the story's overall theme: that the president directed Cohen to lie to Congress.

Trump and aides denounced both the story and the media for reporting on it.

"It's a total phony story," Trump said.

On Saturday, BuzzFeed continued to defend its reporting.

"As we've re-confirmed our reporting, we've seen no indication that any specific aspect of our story is inaccurate," Matt Mittenthal, a BuzzFeed News spokesman said in a statement. "We remain confident in what we've reported, and will share more as we are able."

The publication's editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, also called on Friday for Mueller's office to "make clear what he's disputing."

Cohen, 52, is expected to begin a three-year prison sentence in March after pleading guilty to federal financial crimes, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, which was at the heart of the BuzzFeed story.

Cohen admitted he wasn't truthful when he told the Senate and House Intelligence Committees that all discussions about a Moscow development had ceased in January 2016, knowing that such efforts had continued through at least June – in the heat of the campaign and as Trump repeatedly denied any links to Russia.

Prosecutors have asserted in court documents filed late last year that the tower project "likely required the assistance of the Russian government. And if completed, the company stood to gain hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues."

The court documents did not address whether Cohen's false statements about the Moscow tower discussions were prompted by any other consideration than an attempt to personally shield the campaign from public association with Russia.