“I think Nancy Pelosi is hurting our country very badly by doing what’s she doing and, ultimately, I think I’ve set the table very nicely,” Mr. Trump said. While he would not directly say that he plans to declare a national emergency to build the wall, he added: “I’ve set the table. I’ve set the stage for doing what I’m going to do.”

“No, I didn’t. I never did,” he said of speaking with Mr. Stone on the subject. Did he ever direct anyone to get in touch with Mr. Stone about WikiLeaks? “Never did,” he repeated.

The president dismissed the importance of the proposed Trump Tower his team was seeking to build in Moscow at the height of the election, and he denied his own lawyer’s account of how late in the campaign he was still discussing the project. He also denied that his Twitter messages about former associates who are cooperating with prosecutors amount to witness tampering.

...

He had tough words as well for Ms. Pelosi, who has adamantly refused to approve even a dollar of the $5.7 billion he has sought for his border wall.

“I’ve actually always gotten along with her, but now I don’t think I will any more,” Mr. Trump said. “I think she’s doing a tremendous disservice to the country. If she doesn’t approve the wall, the rest of it’s just a waste of money and time and energy because it’s desperately needed.”

Mr. Trump has been considering an emergency declaration to spend money on a wall even without congressional approval, an action that would most likely draw a court challenge, and he said Ms. Pelosi would not be able to stop him. “I’ll continue to build the wall, and we’ll get the wall finished,” he said. “Now whether or not I declare a national emergency — that you’ll see.”

On another point of contention, the president noted that he had summoned his intelligence chiefs, including Dan Coats, the national intelligence director, and Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director, to the White House because he had heard they contradicted his foreign policy during testimony to Congress this week. Mr. Coats and the others told lawmakers that North Korea was unlikely to give up its nuclear arsenal, that Iran has not restarted work to build one and that the Islamic State was not defeated, all assessments that clash with the president’s worldview.

But Mr. Trump said the intelligence chiefs told him their presentation was misinterpreted. “They said, ‘Sir, our testimony was totally mischaracterized,’” Mr. Trump said. “I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And when you read their testimony and you read their statements, it was mischaracterized by the media.”

Mr. Trump said he has likewise received reassurances from Mr. Rosenstein, who until Attorney General Jeff Sessions was fired in November was overseeing the Russia investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

“He told the attorneys that I’m not a subject, I’m not a target,” Mr. Trump said. Asked if that also covered the separate investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, he said, “I don’t know about that.”

...

Mr. Trump said he had played no role in directing White House officials to arrange for his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, to receive a top-secret clearance. Mr. Kushner’s top-secret clearance application was rejected at least once, after concerns were raised by the F.B.I. about his foreign contacts. The C.I.A., which also raised concerns about Mr. Kushner’s foreign contacts, has continued to deny him access to “sensitive compartmentalized information.”