‘It is not an interference’

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would see nothing wrong in accepting damaging information on a US political opponent if it were offered to his re-election campaign by a foreign government.

Asked in an interview with ABC News if he would accept the information or alert the FBI, Trump said: "I think maybe you do both. I think you might want to listen, there's nothing wrong with listening."

"If somebody called from a country, Norway, 'we have information on your opponent' - oh, I think I'd want to hear it," Trump said.

Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said he disagreed with FBI Director Christopher Wray, who told Congress last month that political campaigns should contact the agency about any suspicious communications from a foreign government.

"The FBI director is wrong," Trump said.

"I've seen a lot of things over my life. I don't think in my whole life I've ever called the FBI. In my whole life. You don't call the FBI. You throw somebody out of your office, you do whatever you do," Trump said. "Oh, give me a break – life doesn't work that way."

Trump compared damaging information on an opponent supplied by a foreign government to opposition research conducted by all political campaigns.

"It's not an interference, they have information - I think I'd take it," Trump said. "If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI - if I thought there was something wrong."