The FBI director fired by Donald Trump has used his first British broadcast interview to reveal he pities the “impulsive” US President.

James Comey, who was unceremoniously sacked by Trump in May, told the BBC’s Emily Maitlis he frequently wakes up to discover Trump has tweeted demands for him to be locked up.

But when asked if he disliked the controversial US leader, he answered: “Not as a person. I actually feel sorry for him as a person.”

Comey added that Americans have grown “numb” to Trump’s increasingly outlandish behaviour and he thought the President had no aides capable of reigning in his behaviour. 

He said: “I wake up some mornings and read the President is demanding the jailing of private citizens, occasionally me.

“And so that is one of the reasons I’m confident the answer is there are not adequate people around him to stop impulsive behaviour.

“We’ve actually become numb to it in the United States. Our president calling for the imprisonment of private citizens. That is not OK, that is not normal.”

He added that he would “potentially” think twice about sharing sensitive information with Trump.

He told Newsnight: “You’d have to think about it in a way you probably wouldn’t have with other presidents.”

Comey, who is releasing a memoir, has previously said Trump was “morally unfit” to be President and that he treated women like “pieces of meat”.

Comey also admitted the controversial Steele dossier was “in its core” accurate, but ducked discussing the more lurid claims.

He said: “A central premise of the Steele dossier was consistent with lots of other information the US intelligence community had.

“That the Russians were involved in a sustained and comprehensive effort to interfere in the 2016 election. In its core, it was corroborated by other US intelligence.”