Trump calls Manafort's conviction 'very sad'

President Trump on Tuesday had little to say about his former colleagues' legal issues.

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac after landing in West Virginia for a rally, Trump said he felt "very badly for Paul Manafort," his former campaign chairman who was found guilty of eight counts of financial fraud.

He called the situation "very sad," reports CNN, though he did distance himself from Manafort. "It doesn't involve me," he said of the conviction, "but it's a very sad thing that happened." He added that the conviction has "nothing to do with Russian collusion." Trump referred to the fact that Manafort was prosecuted by attorneys on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, tasked with investigating the Trump campaign's possible involvement with Russian election interference. "This started as Russian collusion, this has absolutely nothing to do [with it]," said Trump. "It was not the original mission, believe me." The president condemned the ongoing "witch hunt," his nickname for the federal probe that has turned up charges for four of his former campaign officials.

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On Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, the president had even fewer words. Trump reportedly ignored reporters' questions about Cohen's guilty plea on eight counts of financial crimes such as campaign finance violations and tax fraud.

On Twitter, Trump kept things positive: "Big crowd," he wrote about his rally in Charleston. "Looking forward to seeing everyone soon! #MAGA."