WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- President Donald Trump said Thursday that he believes Robert Mueller, the special counsel in the Russia investigation, will treat him fairly, contradicting some members of his party who have waged a weekslong campaign to try to discredit Mueller and the continuing inquiry.
During an impromptu 30-minute interview with The New York Times at his golf club in West Palm Beach, the president did not demand an end to the Russia investigations swirling around his administration, but insisted 16 times that there has been "no collusion" discovered by the inquiry.
"It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position," Trump said of the investigation. "So the sooner it's worked out, the better it is for the country."
Asked whether he would order the Justice Department to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump appeared to remain focused on the Russia investigation.
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"I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department," he said, echoing claims by his supporters that as president he has the power to open or end an investigation. "But for purposes of hopefully thinking I'm going to be treated fairly, I've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter."
The president also touted the strength of his campaign victories and his accomplishments in office, including passage of a tax overhaul this month. But he also expressed frustration and anger at Democrats, who he said refused to negotiate on legislation.
"Like Joe Manchin," Trump said, referring to the Democratic senator from West Virginia. He said Manchin and other Democrats claimed to be centrists but refused to negotiate on health care or taxes.
"He talks. But he doesn't do anything. He doesn't do," Trump said. "'Hey, let's get together, let's do bipartisan.' I say, 'Good, let's go.' Then you don't hear from him again."
Nonetheless, Trump said he still hoped Democrats will work with him on bipartisan legislation in the coming year to overhaul health care, improve the country's infrastructure and help illegal aliens who were brought to the country as children.
Trump repeated his assertion that Democrats invented the Russia allegations "as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election." He said "everybody knows" his associates did not collude with the Russians, even as he insisted that the "real stories" are about Democrats who worked with Russians during the 2016 campaign.
"There's been no collusion. But I think he's going to be fair," Trump said of Mueller.
In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers have seized on anti-Trump texts sent by an FBI investigator who was removed from Mueller's team as evidence of political bias. At a hearing this month, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said "the public trust in this whole thing is gone."
Although Trump said he believes Mueller will treat him fairly, Trump raised questions about how the special counsel had dealt with lobbyist Tony Podesta. Podesta is the brother of Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, and Tony Podesta is under investigation for work his firm, the Podesta Group, did on behalf of a client referred to it in 2012 by Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman.
"Whatever happened to Podesta?" Trump said. "They closed their firm, they left in disgrace, the whole thing, and now you never heard of anything."
Trump tried to put distance between himself and Manafort, who was indicted in October. The president said Manafort -- whom he called "very nice man" and "an honorable person" -- had spent more time working for other candidates and presidents than for him.
"Paul only worked for me for a few months," Trump said. "Paul worked for Ronald Reagan. His firm worked for John McCain, worked for Bob Dole, worked for many Republicans for far longer than he worked for me. And you're talking about what Paul was many years ago before I ever heard of him. He worked for me for -- what was it, 3½ months?"
Trump said it was "too bad" that Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. Trump did not directly answer a question about whether he thought Eric Holder, President Barack Obama's first attorney general, was more loyal than Sessions has been.
"I don't want to get into loyalty, but I will tell you that, I will say this: Holder protected President Obama. Totally protected him," Trump said. He added: "When you look at the things that they did, and Holder protected the president. And I have great respect for that, I'll be honest."
Trump said he believes members of the news media will eventually cover him more favorably because they are profiting from the interest in his presidency and thus will want him re-elected.
"Another reason that we're going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I'm not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes," Trump said, then invoked one of his preferred insults. "Without me, The New York Times will indeed be, not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times."
A Section on 12/29/2017