Story highlights "He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in terms of the economy," Trump said

"We would love to have his help on North Korea. China is helping. Russia is not helping," he added

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump said Friday that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to thank him for comments he made about the President's efforts to grow the American economy.

Trump, speaking with reporters at the White House before he left to address a graduation ceremony at the National FBI Academy, said the call was "great." He also once again denied any collusion between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian operatives.

The ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's role in Russia's 2016 election meddling by special counsel Robert Mueller has loomed over the Trump administration for months, angering the President who sees the probe as nothing more than an attempt to undermine his credibility.

"He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in terms of the economy, but he said also some negative things in terms of what is going on elsewhere," Trump said. "The primary point was to talk about North Korea."

He added: "We would love to have his help on North Korea. China is helping. Russia is not helping. We would like to have Russia's help, very important."

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