President Donald Trump this week continued to deny allegations that his campaign worked with Russian officials to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential contest, saying he hopes, for the sake of the country, the probe into reported election meddling wraps up soon.

Trump, in a Thursday interview with the New York Times, told the newspaper he believes Special Counsel Robert Mueller will treat him fairly in his investigation and insisted more than a dozen times that the inquiry has found "no collusion."

The president further expressed frustration with the timing of Mueller's probe, offering that it's continuation "makes the country look very bad," the Times reported.

Contending that "there was tremendous collusion on behalf of the Russians and the Democrats" -- not his campaign, Trump told there newspaper he believes investigators will treat him fairly.

He again accused Democrats of pushing what he called "this phony Russian deal" as an excuse for losing the 2016 presidential election.

"They made the Russian story up as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election that in theory Democrats should always win with the Electoral College ... But it didn't work out that way. And I will tell you they cannot believe that this became a story," the president reportedly said.

Trump said he won the 2016 election because he was a better candidate "by a lot," not because he worked with Russia.

The president, meanwhile, said he has "no expectation" from Mueller or an idea when the special counsel will complete his work, the Times reported.

"I can only tell you that there is absolutely no collusion. Everybody knows it. And you know who knows it better than anybody? The Democrats. They walk around blinking at each other," he said.

The president added that while there was "no collusion" between his campaign and Russia, "even if there was, it's not a crime."

"But there's no collusion ... I don't even go that far," he said.

Trump further told the newspaper he hopes to see Mueller's investigation wrapped up soon.

"I think it's bad for the country. The only thing that bothers me about timing, I think it's a very bad thing for the country. Because it makes the country look bad, it makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position," he said. "So the sooner it's worked out, the better it is for the country."

Trump denied allegations of collusion earlier this month after former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding his his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016.

"What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion. There's been absolutely no collusion, so we're very happy," he told reporters when asked to comment on Flynn's plea agreement.

The former national security adviser, as part of a plea agreement with Mueller, admitted that a senior member of Trump's presidential transition team directed him to make contact with Russian officials last year.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb, however, said the allegations of false statements brought forth through Mueller's investigation "mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in (Flynn's) resignation in February of this year."