'Pelosi wasting her time on manufactured crisis, ' says Trump on impeachment inquiry over Ukraine controversy

US President Donald Trump lashed out at Democrats on Wednesday for opening impeachment proceedings against him calling the probe into his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate rival Joe Biden a "manufactured crisis."

Trump spoke out following a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York -- and shortly after the White House's release of a rough transcript of his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky.

Referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who opened the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, Trump said, "She is wasting her time on a manufactured crisis."

"All they are talking about is nonsense," he added.

The White House released a call transcript Wednesday confirmingTrump asked his Ukrainian counterpart to probe his political rival Joe Biden.

"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that," Trump told Volodymyr Zelensky in the July 25 call.

As Barack Obama's vice president, Joe Biden and other Western leaders pressured Ukraine to get rid of the country's top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, because he was seen as not tough enough on corruption.

"Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it," Trump said.