Trump: I was going to fire 'showboat' Comey anyway
Video report by Washington correspondent Robert Moore
Donald Trump has labelled fired FBI director James Comey a "showboat" and a "grandstander" - and said he planned to fire him regardless of recommendations by the Attorney General's office.
Speaking to NBC News' Lester Holt, the US President said the FBI had been "in turmoil" since last year and had not recovered.
Mr Comey was abruptly sacked by Mr Trump on Tuesday via a letter stating the president had accepted the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
It made him the first president since Richard Nixon to fire a law enforcement official overseeing an investigation linked to the White House.
Mr Trump told NBC that Mr Rosenstein's recommendation did not influence his decision.
Mr Comey's firing came days after requesting additional resources for an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, sparking fears that the move was an attempt to thwart progress.
It is not clear whether Mr Trump was aware of his request or not.
It came after the acting director of the FBI contradicted White House claims that staff had lost faith in sacked chief James Comey - and insisted the investigation into possible Russian interference in the presidential election was "highly significant".
Senior White House officials previously attempted to downplay the significance of the Russia investigation.
On Wednesday, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called it "probably one of the smallest things" the FBI had "got going on their plate".
But speaking to a Senate panel, acting director Andrew McCabe said he would not describe the investigation that way.
He added that Mr Comey "enjoyed broad support" within the agency - directly contradicting White House claims that Mr Comey had lost the support of rank-and-file members of the bureau.
Mr McCabe said he holds Mr Comey in the "absolute highest regard", adding that it was the "greatest privilege" of his career to serve under him.
He assured senators he would alert them to any effort to interfere with the investigation, and insisted there had been no such attempt thus far.
"You cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing," he said.