Trump softens his characterization of Mueller report findings to 'essentially no obstruction'

President Trump's refrain about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report just became just a bit less definitive.

Trump spoke to reporters on Thursday and brought up the Mueller report, which did not determine that Trump criminally obstructed justice but laid out instances of potential obstruction that Democrats are now looking to further investigate. The report also did not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.

"At the end of the testimony, no collusion, and essentially, no obstruction," Trump said, going on to suggest he would not be able to obstruct if there was no underlying crime.

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Trump did not previously provide this "essentially" qualifier while summarizing the results of Mueller's report, repeatedly tweeting the phrase "no collusion, no obstruction" over the past several weeks.

Later, Trump described the Mueller report coming back and being "beautiful" because it found "no collusion," but he did not mention there being no obstruction this time, saying collusion was "the big deal."