Speaker Paul Ryan on Trump threatening to pull security clearances: 'I think he's trolling people'

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday suggested that President Donald Trump's threats to revoke the security clearances of several Obama administration-era former intelligence chiefs is "trolling".

"I think he's trolling people, honestly," Ryan, R-Wis., said during a news conference at the Capitol Tuesday morning.

“This is something that's in the purview of the executive branch," he explained, deferring the issue to the White House. "I think some of these people have already lost their clearances. Some people keep their clearances. That's something that the executive branch deals with. It's not really in our purview.”

On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed that Trump is weighing revoking the security clearances of John Brennan, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, James Comey, a former FBI director who Trump fired last year, Jim Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, Michael Hayden, a former Director of the National Security Agency, Susan Rice, a National Security Advisor, and Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI.

The move follows criticism of the president's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Helsinki, Finland, where Trump seemed to cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Brennan, in a tweet, said Trump's "press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.' It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???"

After the president extended an invitation for Putin to visit the White House later this fall, Ryan slammed the door on an invitation to address Congress but acknowledged he is “comfortable” with presidents having one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders.

“We will certainly not be giving him an invitation to do a joint session. That's something we reserve for allies,” Ryan said. “What I think matters is the message, and if the message is stop meddling in our country, stop violating our sovereignty, then I support that, but it's the message that counts.”

“I think we always can be firmer on that message,” he added.