Trump to conservative conference: 'We are winners'

June 8 (UPI) -- As former FBI Director James Comey answered questions in the Senate about his firing and Russia, President Donald Trump told conservatives at a religious conference that this round of scrutiny will only make Republicans stronger.

Speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington on Thursday, the president told evangelicals that "we are under siege."

"We will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever," Trump said.

"We know how to fight better than anybody and we never give up. We are winners and we are going to fight."

Trump's remarks came at a time of intense scrutiny for his administration on Capitol Hill, where separate Russia inquiries in the U.S. Department of Justice and the Senate's intelligence committee collided Thursday.

"I believe ... that I was fired because of the Russia investigation. Something about the way I was conducting it, the president felt created pressure on him that he wanted to relieve," Comey said in his testimony.

"We are under siege. You understand that," Trump said. "But we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever -- you watch."

The president also talked of his decision last week to withdraw from the Paris climate change pact, a deal he says was bad economically for the United States.

"We have taken a very strong position," Trump said. "You picked a winner."

The president also slammed Democratic lawmakers in Washington, calling them "obstructionists" and "bad for the country."