What Trump has said about Michael Flynn since firing him

"Wonderful" and "fine" are among the adjectives President Donald Trump has used to describe his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump has also defended Flynn as someone who "was just doing his job,” despite his asking for Flynn's resignation earlier this year.

Trump's public comments about Flynn have been overwhelmingly positive, even sometimes protective.

Just this morning, Trump said he feels "badly" for Flynn, who he said has "led a very strong life."

Here are Trump's public comments about the retired Army lieutenant general since his departure from the administration Feb. 13, when Flynn resigned at the president’s urging, writing in a letter that he had “inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador.”

Feb. 15 -- White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

PHOTO: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump shake hands during a joint news conference at the East Room of the White House, Feb. 15, 2017, in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) More

"Michael Flynn, General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media -- as I call it, the fake media, in many cases. And I think it’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly," Trump said.

"I think it’s very, very unfair what’s happened to General Flynn, the way he was treated, and the documents and papers that were illegally -- I stress that -- illegally leaked. Very, very unfair," he said.

Feb. 16 -- White House news conference

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on Feb. 16, 2017, at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) More

Trump was directly asked whether he fired Flynn.

"Mike Flynn is a fine person, and I asked for his resignation. He respectfully gave it. He is a man who -- there was a certain amount of information given to Vice President Pence, who is with us today, and I was not happy with the way that information was given," Trump said.

"The first thing I thought of when I heard about it [Flynn's call with the Russians during the transition] is, how does the press get this information that’s classified? How do they do it? You know why? Because it’s an illegal process, and the press should be ashamed of themselves. But, more importantly, the people that gave out the information to the press should be ashamed of themselves. Really ashamed," Trump said.

When asked why he kept Pence "in the dark for almost two weeks" about Flynn's conversations with Russians, Trump said, "when I looked at the information, I said, ‘I don’t think he did anything wrong.’ If anything, he did something right. He was coming into office, he looked at the information. He said, huh, that’s fine, that’s what they’re supposed to do. They’re supposed to be -- and he didn’t just call Russia. He called and spoke to, both ways -- I think there were 30-some-odd countries. He’s doing the job."

"He was just doing his job. The thing is he didn’t tell our Vice President properly, and then he said he didn’t remember. So either way, it wasn’t very satisfactory to me. And I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position, and that also helps, I think, in the making of my decision. But he didn’t tell the Vice President of the United States the facts, and then he didn’t remember. And that just wasn’t acceptable to me," Trump said.

PHOTO: Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn at the White House, Feb. 13, 2017. (Carlos Barria/Reuters, FILE) More

Asked again later whether he thought there was any wrongdoing in Flynn's calls, Trump reiterated that, "when I first heard about it, I said, ‘Huh, that doesn't sound wrong.’ My counsel came -- Don McGahn, White House Counsel -- and he told me.... He said, he doesn't think anything is wrong."

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