Donald Trump has said he would listen if foreign powers offered him damaging information about a political rival, saying he might not call the FBI.

Two months after the publication of Robert Mueller’s report into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election, a report that detailed numerous interactions between Russians and members of the president’s circle, Mr Trump said he would look at information on his 2020 rivals provided by foreign powers.

“I think maybe you do both,” he said, asked if he would call the FBI or accept the material.

“I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening.” He added: “If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’ – oh, I think I’d want to hear it.”

Speaking to ABC News on a day his eldest son testified behind closed doors on Capitol Hill about the now infamous Trump Tower meeting between members of the president’s campaign and a Kremlin-linked lawyer, the president suggested being handed such information did not amount to electoral interference.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

“It’s not an interference, they have information – I think I’d take it,” Mr Trump said. “If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI – if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, ‘oh let’s call the FBI’.”

He added: “The FBI doesn’t have enough agents to take care of it. When you go and talk, honestly, to congressman, they all do it, they always have, and that’s the way it is. It’s called oppo research.”

When it was pointed out that FBI director Christopher Wray said last month in congressional testimony that his organisation would want to hear about any foreign election meddling, the president dismissed it.

“The FBI director is wrong, because frankly it doesn’t happen like that in life,” Mr Trump said. “Now maybe it will start happening, maybe today you’d think differently.”

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He said he had “seen a lot in his life” but that he had never called the FBI.

“In my whole life. You don’t call the FBI. You throw somebody out of your office, you do whatever you do,” he said. “Oh, give me a break – life doesn’t work that way.”

The president’s eldest son was among those who took part in the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who has headed several legal and lobbying efforts in the US on behalf of senior Russians. He said he agreed to take the meeting after she promised dirt on Hillary Clinton, something he said she never provided, and which she denied offering.

Speaking on a visit to France in July 2017, Mr Trump said of the meeting his son took part in: “I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting. Politics isn’t the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard.”

Mr Mueller’s probe found no evidence of a conspiracy between Moscow and members of the president’s team. On the question of obstruction of justice, Mr Mueller said his team was unable to exonerate the president and that prosecutors were unable – because of longstanding department of justice guidelines – to consider indicting a sitting president. He indicated such a role fell to Congress.