The special counsel is planning to interview the president for his probe into alleged US election meddling by Russia, according to US media. Mueller is said to be investigating whether President Trump obstructed justice.
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller has approached President Donald Trump for an interview about Russian election meddling, US media reported Monday. While the president has voiced his willingness to cooperate, his lawyers have been trying to make sure any interview takes place under very specific parameters.
First reported by NBC News, other sources later confirmed to the Washington Post that Mueller is likely to question the president "very soon."
"This is moving faster than anyone realizes," according to a Post source familiar with the talks.
'Fire and Fury': A look inside Donald Trump's White House
Even before publication, a new book by American journalist Michael Wolff has triggered anger in Washington. Based on interviews with high-ranking officials and Trump himself, it offers a rare view into the White House.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
'Fire and Fury'
Excerpts published by US and British news outlets from American journalist Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" about US President Donald Trump's administration have offered a look into the inner workings of the White House. From finding comfort in McDonald's hamburgers to Ivanka's presidential dreams, here are some excerpts from the book.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Camp
'Melania was in tears'
"Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend – Trump might actually win – seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears – and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour ... a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/V. Mayo
Ivanka Trump the 'first woman president'?
"Balancing risk against reward, both Jared (Kushner) and Ivanka decided to accept roles in the West Wing over the advice of almost everyone they knew ... Between themselves, the two had made an earnest deal: If sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she'd be the one to run for president. The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/M. Sohn
Finding comfort in fast food
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's – nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made."
Image: Instagram
Bannon's theories
"The real enemy, (Bannon) said, was China. China was the first front in a new Cold War. China's everything. Nothing else matters. We don't get China right, we don't get anything right. This whole thing is very simple. China is where Nazi Germany was in 1929 to 1930. The Chinese, like the Germans, are the most rational people in the world, until they're not."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
Bannon: Donald Jr. was 'treasonous'
"(Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers … Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Bannon said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/C. Kaster
'Losing was winning'
"Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities. Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement ... Melania Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching. Losing was winning."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
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Frustration is reportedly growing in the White House, as no one believed Mueller's investigation would continue into 2018. Thus far three former Trump campaign staffers have been indicted, prompting former campaign chief Paul Manafort to press charges against Mueller for what Manafort sees as overstepping the frame of his mandate.
Obstruction of justice?
"Trump is comfortable participating in an interview and believes it would put to rest questions about whether his campaign coordinated with Russia," wrote the Washington Post.
To that end, Ty Cobb, the White House counsel and Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow are apparently trying to get Mueller to submit his questions ahead of time, or allow the president to give his answers in written statements instead of a sit-down interview.
However, one person familiar with the talks told the Post that Mueller has no intention of creating special rules for the president, especially as he may be exploring whether or not Trump obstructed justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey.
Comey was sacked last May, and has since said publicly that the president asked him to "drop" an investigation into ties between ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Russian officials. Flynn has since pled guilty to lying to the FBI.
