US President Donald Trump has claimed Barack Obama is behind damaging White House leaks that have dogged the early days of his presidency.

Speaking on Fox and Friends on Wednesday, Mr Trump also gave himself an “A” grade “in terms of achievement” so far, but rated his efforts to communicate the actions of administration as “C or a C plus”.

The president gave the interview with the Fox News breakfast show, which he has praised amid sweeping criticism of other American media, ahead of his first ever address to Congress where he will make the case for a huge boost to military spending.

“In terms of achievement, I think I’d give myself an A. Because I think I’ve done great things, but I don’t think I have – I and my people, I don’t think we’ve explained it well enough to the American public,” he told Fox and Friends.

“I think I get an A in terms of what I’ve actually done, but in terms of messaging, I’d give myself a C or a C plus.”

Mr Trump also blamed President Obama for White House leaks and for the protests that have taken place throughout the country against him and his Republican colleagues since his inauguration.

“I think that President Obama is behind it, because his people are certainly behind it. And some of the leaks possibly come from that group, you know, some of the leaks, which are really very serious leaks, because they’re very bad in terms of national security,” he said.

“But I also understand that’s politics. And in terms of him being behind things, that’s politics.  And it will probably continue.”

https://twitter.com/passantino/status/836407670227808261

The early days of the Trump presidency have been marred by leaks, including revelations over calls with Russian officials by General Michael Flynn that caused the former national security adviser to quit his post.

A recent crackdown on leaks by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in which Mr Trump’s top spokesman demanded to see the phones of administration aides, was also leaked to the media.

Mr Trump recently claimed that “the leaks are real” but “the news is fake” at a sprawling press conference in which he slammed the media for its coverage of his administration.