Donald Trump has defended the links between his government and the Russian regime, claiming that he has an 'absolute right' to share facts with Moscow.
He took to Twitter to defend his data sharing with Russia, stating that he wanted the Russians to 'greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism'.
He added that they discussed anti-terrorism practices and airline flight safety.
Trump met with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Washington last Wednesday to discuss combatting the so called Islamic State, prompting a wave of criticism from his fellow Republicans regarding potential sharing of classified information.
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It is rumoured that the specifics of planned Islamic State action were discussed.
Trump has been under fire from his own party after the firing of FBI chief James Comey, who was dismissed last week.
Comey had been leading an investigation into the campaign that propelled the business magnate to the White House.
The FBI are probing claims that there were high level links between the Trump campaign and the Russian regime, claims which are denied by Moscow and cause vitriol whenever mentioned to Trump.
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The president followed his comments on Twitter with a further tweet aimed at 'leakers in the intelligence community', who he has often claimed are against his presidency.
The tensions between the upper echelons of the Trump administration and the intelligence agencies - most notably the FBI - have been a major feature of the opening months of his tenure on Pennsylvania Avenue.
His tweets about the meeting were in direct contrast to comments made yesterday by HR McMaster, a national security adviser to the President, who said: "What I'm saying is that the premise of the article was false - that in any way the president had a conversation that was inappropriate or that resulted in any kind of lapse in national security", referring to an article in the Washington Post that accused Trump of sharing secrets.
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Credit: PA
The Washington Post article alleged that Trump had given away information that was classified and came from a third party - later reported as being Jordan or Israel - that had not consented to it being shared with Russia.
Under US intelligence law, it is illegal for the majority of US government actors to give away classified information to a hostile nation - which would include Russia - although as President, Trump can declassify information.
Source: Washington Post, Haaretz
Featured Image Credit: PA