The White House and James Comey's allies are spinning very different lines on why the former FBI director was sacked. 

Here's a run-down of the explanations we've heard so far - and how they've changed since the story first broke. 

Image source, Getty Images

President Trump has admitted he has tried to tune out the bad news about himself, Time magazine reports in its latest issue., external

“I’ve been able to do something that I never thought I had the ability to do. I’ve been able not to watch or read things that aren’t pleasant,” the president says. 

Of course, as his public outbursts indicate, he does not always succeed, Time says, but Mr Trump says he no longer feels a need to know everything said about him. 

“In terms of your own self, it’s a very, very good thing. The equilibrium is much better," President Trump says.

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News from around the globe

How is the Comey fallout playing in Moscow today? Some clues in this from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned earlier.

"Undoubtedly, this emotional, let's say, obsession with the so-called Russia factor which is being zealously held afloat in the USA is regrettable," Mr Peskov was quoted as saying by Russia's TASS news agency.

"But on the other hand, we understand that we need to be patient, the obsession will soon fade. We hope so. 

"Russia has never meddled, does not meddle and has no intention to meddle in US internal affairs in the future."

Image source, AFP

This old tweet posted by Sarah Huckabee, the deputy White House press secretary, has re-emerged and garnered several thousand retweets.

Back in November 2016, Ms Huckabee was referring to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, and claims of anti-Clinton bias within the FBI. 

In an interview with NBC news on Thursday, Mr Trump firmly denied he was under investigation.

But the retweeters appear not to be convinced.

After their director was sacked, at least a dozen FBI agents changed their Facebook profile photos to a picture of James Comey, the Daily Beast reports., external

It says the gesture is usually reserved for when a colleague dies in the line of duty.  

It's no surprise that James Comey stars on The New Yorker's 22 May cover.

The illustration compares his firing to the recent incident where a passenger was forcibly dragged off a United Airlines plane. The man doing the dragging here? US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  

Artist Barry Blitt has called his vision a bit of a leap, external, musing: "James Comey is six feet eight - he probably would have been happy to give up his seat in a cramped cabin."  

Image source, EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has said that Mr Comey's sacking was a "sovereign decision made by US President Donald Trump" and had nothing to do with Russia.

"We hope that it will have no impact on US-Russian relations," Dmitry Peskov added.

'Surprising, overdue, strange' - see what voters say about Trump's move. 

Katty Kay
World News America presenter

What if Comey's firing is nothing to do with the Russia probe or the Clinton email server, but is actually just a result of the president's thin-skinned character?

Would that be more or less alarming than Comey being fired in order to impede the Russia investigation, which is the case Democrats are making this week?

Read Katty's verdict here 

Image source, Getty Images

The White House has depicted the Russia inquiry as "probably one of the smallest things" that the FBI has "got going on their plate".

But acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said on Thursday it was "a highly significant investigation".

In testimony to the Senate intelligence committee, he also cast doubt on White House claims that Mr Comey had lost the confidence of his staff.

"I can confidently tell you that the vast majority of employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey," Mr McCabe said. 

He also vowed not to update the White House on the status of the investigation and to notify the Senate panel of any attempt to interfere with the inquiry.  

Meanwhile, the New York Times has reported, external that two people who had heard Mr Comey's account - apparently of the same dinner - said Mr Comey declined a request to pledge loyalty to Mr Trump, but said he would be honest with him.  

In the NBC interview, President Trump said Mr Comey first told him that he was not under investigation at a dinner at the White House, which the FBI chief had requested because "he wanted to stay on" in his post under the new administration.

But NBC later quoted an unnamed former senior FBI official close to Mr Comey as saying it was the White House that had requested the dinner, and that Mr Comey would not have told the president he was not under investigation.

"He would say, 'Look sir, I really can't get into it, and you don't want me to'," the former official was quoted as saying.

The White House has rejected concerns raised by legal experts that the conversation, as described by Trump, may have been improper.

Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she "did not see it as a conflict of interest".

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

The firing of Mr Comey featured prominently among the topics discussed during the interview.

Breaking news flashes, headlines and controversy ensued.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the snippets of the interview released so far.

In an NBC interview on Thursday, President Trump insisted he himself was not under investigation.

He also dismissed the fired FBI chief as a  "showboat" and "grandstander".  

Image source, Reuters

We're resuming our live coverage as the political turmoil continues in the US over President Donald Trump's decision to sack FBI Director James Comey - the man who had been leading an inquiry into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia in the run-up to the presidential election last year.

We're going to suspend our live page on the fallout from President Trump's decision to fire the FBI director for now.

But our journalists will continue to update our main story with any late developments.

You may also enjoy some analysis from our team:

Comey sacking doesn't rise to Watergate levels - Nick Bryant in New York

Did Trump fire James Comey as part of a cover-up? - Anthony Zurcher in Washington

Why might Trump have axed FBI chief? - the possibilities laid out

Trump's high-profile sackings - those who have gone before

Five things you wanted to know - reader questions answered

Speaker of the House and top-ranking Republican Paul Ryan has made his first public comments on the controversy following Comey's firing, in an evening interview on Fox News.

He said Comey had lost the confidence of many people, both Democrats and Republicans, and the administration should "move quickly" to replace him.

When asked about the call for the appointment of a special prosecutor, he said: "I don't think that's a good idea." 

Jackie Speier, a Democrat in the House of representatives who sits on the intelligence committee, says she has concerns that the next FBI chief might not be impartial.

"We're in the process, have been in the process on the intelligence committee of negotiating with the FBI for some of their raw intelligence," she said.

"I can imagine that it may be more difficult to actually ascertain that raw intelligence with a new FBI director who has been appointed by the President - and frankly I don't have confidence will be independent, whoever it is."

Image source, Getty Images

Political stats site FiveThirtyEight says it's done the maths on Republican senators - and just a quarter of them are on the record defending Comey's dismissal.

By their calculations, out of 52 senators:

• 12 defended Comey's firing
• 15 said it raises concerns
• 21 gave an "ambiguous" response
• 4 could not be reached for comment

You can read their full piece over on FiveThirtyEight, external.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

If Donald Trump is trying to avoid comparisons with Richard Nixon's scandal-plagued presidency, welcoming Henry Kissinger - the man probably most closely connected with the former president - in the Oval Office probably isn't the best move.

The whole group meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak was a bit strange, starting with the fact that it happened at all. Given the allegations that Mr Trump fired James Comey because of the FBI investigation into Russia ties to the Trump campaign, meeting with a Russian ambassador the very next day isn't exactly good optics, as they say.

Neither is keeping US media out of the room and having Russian state photographers provide the only public images of the event - images that are sure to be featured in Democratic campaign adverts in the not-too-distant future.

During the campaign, Mr Trump famously joked that he could shoot somebody, and his supporters would stick by him. Smiling with the Russian ambassador in the midst of a growing Russian hacking controversy is the diplomatic equivalent - a brazen move sans firearms.

Many in Washington will howl, but there's no guarantee it will move the needle among the president's legions.