Washington: President Donald Trump on Thursday denied that he had directed his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law during the 2016 campaign by buying the silence of two women who claimed they once had affairs with the future president.

In morning tweets, Trump, however, did not dispute that he had directed Cohen to make the payments, as Cohen and federal prosecutors have alleged - actions that could imperil Trump if he knew what was being done violated campaign finance laws.

Trump claimed that Cohen bore responsibility for any violations of criminal law but also asserted that Cohen "probably was not guilty" of even civil violations related to the payments to former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal and adult-film star Stormy Daniels - a view at odds with that of many lawyers who specialise in campaign finance law.

"Those charges were just agreed to by him in order to embarrass the president and get a much reduced prison sentence, which he did," Trump alleged.