Donald Trump news conference: US President-elect attacks 'sick people' he blames for Russian dossier
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has rejected reports Moscow has compiled a dossier of compromising information about his activities in and links to the Russian state.
Here are the latest updates:
- Trump says he is a 'germaphobe' in apparent response to dossier sex allegations
- Trump says he is 'completely isolating' himself from business empire
- 'If Putin likes me, it's an asset'
- Trump attacks the 'sick' people who put 'c**p' intelligence dossier together
- Unofficial and unverified report into Trump's alleged Russian links included in official security briefing
- Trump calls allegations fake news and a political witch-hunt
- Scanned copy of former British spy's unverified report published by BuzzFeed
- Trump holds his first new conference as President-elect
With just nine days to go until his inauguration, Donald Trump has again found himself at the centre of a scandal involving alleged links to the Russian state.
A classified briefing on Russian hacking, given to both President Barack Obama and the President-elect, included allegations that Mr Trump or his surrogates had direct contact with the Kremlin before and during the 2016 election campaign.
And the report also details "perverted sexual acts" involving prostitutes alleged to have taken place in a hotel room in Moscow. The suggestion is that the claims could have been used by Russia to compromise the incoming US President.
Mr Trump has strenuously denied the unverified allegations, which came in a two-page synopsis attached to a classified intelligence report into Russian interference in the US election. A declassified version was distributed publicly last week.
Intelligence officials said they could not independently verify the embarrassing claims, compiled by a former British spy who was hired by Mr Trump’s political opponents.
The Kremlin dismissed the report as "fake" and "total bluff" in a statement on Wednesday morning, saying it had no "compromising information" on either Mr Trump or his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday night, Mr Trump's political advisor Kellyanne Conway also dismissed the claims as coming from "unnamed, unspoken sources."
Back at the podium Mr Trump says he has put together "one of the greatest ever" cabinets.
He mentions Rex Tillerson - whose confirmation hearing has just headed for a break. Mr Trump says what he is saying is "brilliant".
One other thing on the business moves: Ms Dillion said that Mr Trump is “going to voluntary donate all profits from foreign governments made to his hotels to the United States treasury”.
As for Tillerson, before the short break in his hearing Senators pressed him on his relationship with his former employer, Exxon Mobil, and his views on the energy industry.
He called for a carbon tax in order to combat climate change.
He also promised to not take direct calls from US companies, and claimed that as Exxon Mobil CEO, he never had direct access to the secretary of state himself.
For any issues that affect his old employer, he said he would recuse himself for a period after taking office, but that he does not plan to recuse himself every time the issue of oil and the energy industry is raised.
Mr Trump is now talking about healthcare - and specifically Obamacare. He says they are looking to "repeal and replace" Obamacare and the replacement system will be "far better".
Mr Trump says that he - and his administration - will be doing the Democrats a favour by getting rid of their "problem".
Mr Trump says that plans for this new system will be submitted as soon as his Secretary of Health is confirmed.
The President-elect says the he expects to nominate his choice for the new Justice in the Supreme Court within two weeks of his inauguration.
Mr Trump repeats that he feels it is a "disgrace" that what he says is "fake news" came out.
Buzzfeed were the organisation to publish the material in full and Mr Trump says: “As far as Buzzfeed which is a failing pile of garbage writing it, I think they’re going to suffer the consequences, and they already are.”
A BBC reporter asks: "The question is, if any of this Buzzfeed business stands up, will you reconsider...
“There’s nothing they can come back with,” Mr Trump replies, simply.
Mr Trump refuses to let CNN ask a question. CNN's Jim Acosta was yelling questions to Trump. "You are fake news," Mr Trump says.
Mr Trump, when asked about his Nazi tweet, says: “I think it was disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake” to get out. Again he compares it to Nazi Germany.
However, when asked about whether he is weakening national security by criticising the intelligence community he says: “Intelligence agencies are vital and very very important... We’re going to be putting in some outstanding people”.
Mr Trump says he will get a "major report on hacking" within 90 days of taking office.
When asked about hacking and for his message to Mr Putin, Mr Trump says:
“He shouldn’t be doing it, he won’t be doing it. Russia will have much greater respect for our country when I’m leading it than when other people have led it... we have to work something out..."
He then turns his attention to China: "It’s not just Russia... 22m accounts were hacked in this country by China. And that’s because we have no defence.” Mr Trump adds that China “taking total advantage of us economically.”
Then the oft-repeated refrain: “All countries will respect us far more, far more than they do under past administrations.”
The President-elect then tries to end on a joke about his sons taking over his business.
"I hope at the end of eight years that I come back otherwise if they did a bad job I’ll come back and say ‘you’re fired’.”
Perhaps on early indication of his plans at the end of his first term?