WATCH: Trump hints Comey tapes may exist -- because Obama wiretapped the White House

When President Donald Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey and then sent out a threatening tweet warning him of potential "tapes" of their conversations, it set off a series of events that led to the appointment of special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Despite this, Trump told Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt on Friday that his tweet threatening Comey was a political masterstroke that forced the former FBI director to tell the truth under oath -- and for good measure, he hinted that recordings of his conversations might exist because former President Barack Obama has been wiretapping the White House.

"You never know what's out there when you see that the Obama administration, and perhaps longer than that, was doing all of this unmasking and surveillance," Trump explained. "But when [Comey] found out that there may be tapes out there, whether it's governmental tapes or anything else or who knows, I think his story may have changed, I mean, you're going to have to take a look at that. Because then he has to tell what actually took place at the events."

Earthardt then complimented the president on his savvy maneuver and suggested to Trump that it was "a smart way to make sure he stayed honest in those hearings."

"Well, it wasn't very stupid, I can tell you that," Trump replied.

Watch the video below.