trump
© Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP
US President Donald Trump has said that the allegations of his campaign colluding with Russia by the "fake news media" are "dead", as his former chief strategist Steve Bannon is set to testify before Congress and a grand jury.

Taking to his favorite social media platform, the POTUS accused the mainstream media of pushing conspiracy theories against him and his campaign.

"Do you notice the Fake News Mainstream Media never likes covering the great and record setting economic news, but rather talks about anything negative or that can be turned into the negative," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "The Russian Collusion Hoax is dead, except as it pertains to the Dems. Public gets it!"

The reference to the Democratic Party presumably applies to the alleged wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton in approving a uranium deal with a Russian company.

Trump's remarks come as his onetime ally Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and recently ousted executive chairman of the conservative outlet Breitbart News, is due to appear before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday to testify on the Russia allegations. Bannon, who was considered a leading figure in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, went on to take a place in the White House but left in August last year.