US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he always intended to fire FBI Director James Comey, contradicting earlier White House statements that he acted on the recommendation of top justice officials.

“I was going to fire him regardless of recommendations,” Trump told NBC in an interview, after days in which the White House has struggled to convince Congress members and the US public that the move was not politically motivated.

“I was going to fire Comey. My decision,” he added.

Trump called Comey a “showboat” and a “grandstander”, while also admitting that he had asked the FBI chief to tell him if he was under investigation.

The Republican president`s remarks drew instant criticism from Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“Frankly, I`m offended at the president`s comments,” Warner told reporters. “This is a continuing pattern of disrespecting the men and women who serve in our intelligence community.”

Russia probe

Trump ignited a political firestorm with his abrupt decision to fire Comey on Tuesday , with critics assailing him for removing the director in the middle of an FBI probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump presidential campaign.

Trump said Comey had given him assurances on three occasions that he was not personally under investigation; twice in phone calls and once in a dinner he had with Comey, in which, according to Trump, the FBI director had made the case to stay on as head of the FBI.