US President Donald Trump said he wanted an investigation into the origins of the probe into ties between his campaign and Russia.

Trump, speaking to reporters on Wednesday at the White House, decreed it an "illegal investigation" conducted by "dirty cops".

The president specifically mentioned former FBI Director James Comey and fired former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Trump called the investigation "an attempted coup, an attempted takedown of a president." But he added: "We beat them".

Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump. He did not rule on obstruction of justice, though Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein ruled that Trump did not.

The president also congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared headed for fifth term as prime minister.

Trump acknowledged that it might be a bit premature to declare Netanyahu's victory, but said he was hearing that he'd won.

Unofficial election results give his right-wing Likud and other nationalist and religious parties a solid majority in parliament.

The outcome would affirm Israel's continued tilt to the right and further dim hopes of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians have severed ties with the Trump administration.

Trump also said he would not hand over his tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, again insisting he is "under audit".

The president said he wasn't concerned about the politics involved in not handing them over because he "got elected last time, the same exact issue," adding, "the people don't care".

Washington, DC - 10 April 2019

1. Trump walks over to press on White House South Lawn

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"I'd like to congratulate Bibi Netanyahu, it looks like that race has been won by him. It may be a little early but I'm hearing he's won it and won in good fashion. So he's been a great ally and he's a friend. I'd like to congratulate him. That was a well fought out race, I can tell you. But it looks like Bibi has won that race. Go ahead...

(Reporter question, off camera)

So, the fact that Bibi won, I think we'll see some pretty good action in terms of peace. Look, everyone said, and I never made it a promise but everybody said you can't have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians. I think we have a chance and I think we have now a better chance with Bibi having won."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"The Mueller report is interesting. After 35-million dollars, with 13 increased to 18 angry Democrats, people that truly hated Donald Trump, truly hated Trump, they found no collusion whatsoever with Russia. But I could have told you that and so could most people. And so could have everybody that voted for me, which was a lot of people. So after wasting all of this money and all of this time with people that were haters, people that worked on the Hillary Clinton Foundation, people that were absolutely haters of Trump, they found no collusion. What has been found during this period of time are the illegal acts of getting this whole phony investigation started and hopefully that's where people are going now. That's where people are going and it's very interesting. It was an illegal investigation. Major... It was an illegal investigation. It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked. Every single thing about it. There were dirty cops. These were bad people. You look at McCabe and Comey and you look at Lisa and Peter Strzok. These were bad people. And this was a, an attempted coup. This was an attempted takedown of a president. And we beat them. We beat them. So the Mueller report, when they talk about obstruction, we fight back. And you know why we fight back? Because I knew how illegal this whole thing was, it was a scam. And what I'm most interested in, excuse me. What I'm most interested in is getting started. Hopefully the attorney general, he mentioned it yesterday, he's doing a great job. Getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started because this was an illegal witch hunt and everybody knew it and they knew it too. And they got caught. And what they did was treason. What they did was terrible. What they did was against our Constitution and everything we stand for. So hopefully that will happen. There is a hunger for that to happen in this country like I have never seen before including all of the millions of people that voted for me. What they did was disgraceful. There's never been anything like it in the history of our country."

4. Pull out to quick wide shot of Trump talking to the press

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"No there is no law. As you know I got elected last time with the same issue and while I'm under audit, I won't do it. If I'm not under audit, I would do it. I had no problem with it. But while I'm under audit, I would not give my taxes. there's no law whatsoever. Now I will say this. I would love to give them, but I'm not going to do it while I'm under audit. It's very simple. Remember, I got elected last time the same exact issue, with the same intensity which wasn't very much because frankly, the people don't care. What I have done is approximately a 104 page summary and really in great detail of assets and values and nobody wants to go over that because it's so good. I built a great company, one of the best companies, I have some of the greatest assets in the world. I did a good job and now frankly I don't care about them. I only care about the United States. But I have no obligation to do that while I'm under audit. And no lawyer would tell you to release your tax returns while you're under audit."

6. Pull out to wider shot of Trump talking to press

President Donald Trump is declaring that he wants an investigation into the origins of the probe into ties between his campaign and Russia.

Trump, speaking to reporters Wednesday at the White House, decreed it an "illegal investigation" conducted by "dirty cops."

The president specifically mentioned former FBI Director James Comey and fired former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Trump called the investigation "an attempted coup, an attempted takedown of a president." But he said, "we beat them."

Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump. He did not rule on obstruction of justice, though Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein ruled that Trump did not.

The president also congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu, who appears headed for fifth term as prime minister of Israel.

Trump acknowledged that it might be a bit premature to declare Netanyahu's victory, but said he's hearing that he's won.

Unofficial election results give his right-wing Likud and other nationalist and religious parties a solid majority in parliament.

The outcome would affirm Israel's continued tilt to the right and further dim hopes of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians have severed ties with the Trump administration.

Trump also said he would not hand over his tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, again insisting he is "under audit.'

The president said he's not concerned about the politics involved in not handing them over because he "got elected last time, the same exact issue," adding, "the people don't care."

Washington, DC - 10 April 2019

1. Trump walks over to press on White House South Lawn

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"I'd like to congratulate Bibi Netanyahu, it looks like that race has been won by him. It may be a little early but I'm hearing he's won it and won in good fashion. So he's been a great ally and he's a friend. I'd like to congratulate him. That was a well fought out race, I can tell you. But it looks like Bibi has won that race. Go ahead...

(Reporter question, off camera)

So, the fact that Bibi won, I think we'll see some pretty good action in terms of peace. Look, everyone said, and I never made it a promise but everybody said you can't have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians. I think we have a chance and I think we have now a better chance with Bibi having won."

++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"The Mueller report is interesting. After 35-million dollars, with 13 increased to 18 angry Democrats, people that truly hated Donald Trump, truly hated Trump, they found no collusion whatsoever with Russia. But I could have told you that and so could most people. And so could have everybody that voted for me, which was a lot of people. So after wasting all of this money and all of this time with people that were haters, people that worked on the Hillary Clinton Foundation, people that were absolutely haters of Trump, they found no collusion. What has been found during this period of time are the illegal acts of getting this whole phony investigation started and hopefully that's where people are going now. That's where people are going and it's very interesting. It was an illegal investigation. Major... It was an illegal investigation. It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked. Every single thing about it. There were dirty cops. These were bad people. You look at McCabe and Comey and you look at Lisa and Peter Strzok. These were bad people. And this was a, an attempted coup. This was an attempted takedown of a president. And we beat them. We beat them. So the Mueller report, when they talk about obstruction, we fight back. And you know why we fight back? Because I knew how illegal this whole thing was, it was a scam. And what I'm most interested in, excuse me. What I'm most interested in is getting started. Hopefully the attorney general, he mentioned it yesterday, he's doing a great job. Getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started because this was an illegal witch hunt and everybody knew it and they knew it too. And they got caught. And what they did was treason. What they did was terrible. What they did was against our Constitution and everything we stand for. So hopefully that will happen. There is a hunger for that to happen in this country like I have never seen before including all of the millions of people that voted for me. What they did was disgraceful. There's never been anything like it in the history of our country."

4. Pull out to quick wide shot of Trump talking to the press

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

"No there is no law. As you know I got elected last time with the same issue and while I'm under audit, I won't do it. If I'm not under audit, I would do it. I had no problem with it. But while I'm under audit, I would not give my taxes. there's no law whatsoever. Now I will say this. I would love to give them, but I'm not going to do it while I'm under audit. It's very simple. Remember, I got elected last time the same exact issue, with the same intensity which wasn't very much because frankly, the people don't care. What I have done is approximately a 104 page summary and really in great detail of assets and values and nobody wants to go over that because it's so good. I built a great company, one of the best companies, I have some of the greatest assets in the world. I did a good job and now frankly I don't care about them. I only care about the United States. But I have no obligation to do that while I'm under audit. And no lawyer would tell you to release your tax returns while you're under audit."

6. Pull out to wider shot of Trump talking to press