Donald Trump is having sensitive information withheld from him by US intelligence officials and spies, according to a new report.

The report, published by the Wall Street Journal, claims the reason behind not telling the president the whole truth is that officials fear the information could be leaked or compromised after it got to him.

The Journal cited multiple current and former officials with knowledge of the alleged withholding of information.

In response to the report, a White House spokesman told the newspaper: 'There is nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening.'

The alleged move by intelligence officials not to keep the president fully informed comes as the organizations continue to clash over Trump as a result of his team's reported ties to Russia and his own hostility towards them.

Donald Trump is having sensitive information withheld from him by US intelligence officials and spies, according to a new report

On Wednesday he blamed the media and 'illegally leaked' intelligence information for bringing down his national security adviser Michael Flynn, one day after the White House said Trump had asked Flynn to resign because he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia.

Flynn's ouster sparked a new swirl of controversy over Trump's potential ties to Moscow.

Flynn resigned Monday night - at the behest of Trump, the White House later said - after reports that he had discussed sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US before the inauguration, despite previously denying those conversations to Pence and other top officials.

But in Trump's first public comments on Flynn, he appeared to side with his former aide, saying it was: 'really a sad thing that he was treated so badly.'

The report claims the reason behind not telling the president the whole truth is that officials fear the information could be leaked or compromised after it got to him. Trump is pictured speaking at the CIA headquarters on January 21

Intelligence heads are seen at Capitol Hill and January 5. (Left-to-right) Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Marcell Lettre II, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and United States Cyber Command and National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers

The questions about Russia only deepened late Tuesday when The New York Times reported US agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team.

Current and former US officials who spoke to the Times anonymously said they found no evidence the Trump campaign was working with the Russians on hacking or other efforts to influence the election.

Trump didn't directly address the veracity of the report during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but lashed out at what he called the 'criminal act' of leaking information.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump tweeted: 'Classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!'

The alleged withholding of information comes as Trump has attacked intelligence officials for leaking that led to Mike Flynn being fired. Trump is pictured at the CIA headquarters in January

Flynn resigned Monday night - at the behest of Trump, the White House later said - after reports that he had discussed sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US before the inauguration

The president ignored shouted questions about whether his advisers were in touch with Russian officials.

His spokesman Sean Spicer said he wasn't aware of any such contacts and panned the Times report for relying on 'unnamed sources.'

Democrats called for an independent investigation into Trump's Russia ties and urged Republicans to join them.

'This is a moment for Republicans to put country ahead of party,' Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said.

'There's only one or two times like this in your political career where you face a moment like this where what's good for your country may not be good for your party.'

GOP lawmakers, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, resisted, saying that the existing congressional committees will continue their investigations into Russian interference in the presidential election.

The chairmen of the House committees on oversight and the judiciary sent a letter Wednesday to the Justice Department's inspector general urging him to investigate the leaks that led to Flynn's removal.

'We have serious concerns about the potential inadequate protection of classified information here,' Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Bob Goodlatte wrote.