At his first press conference since July, Donald Trump launched a fierce attack on the media and intelligence agencies, dismissing a dossier of unverified allegations about his ties to Russia as 'fake news'. The president-elect, speaking nine days before his inauguration, described the behaviour of the intelligence community as 'disgraceful' and compared the leak of the document to something 'Nazi Germany would have done'.
The press conference, held in the lobby of Trump Tower, was originally intended to outline how Trump would avoid conflicts of interest between his business empire and his presidency. However, it was dominated by the fallout from a 35-page memo, published by BuzzFeed, which contained claims of alleged sexual impropriety by Trump in a Moscow hotel room. Trump denied the allegations, calling them 'phony stuff' and blaming 'sick people' for compiling them.
Trump singled out CNN and BuzzFeed for criticism, accusing them of spreading 'fake news'. He also attacked the intelligence agencies, but James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, later stated that the leak did not come from within the intelligence community. Clapper expressed 'profound dismay' at the leaks, calling them 'extremely corrosive'.
Despite the tumult, Trump admitted for the first time that he believed Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic Party during the 2016 election. However, he defended his positive relationship with Vladimir Putin, saying it was an 'asset, not a liability'. The press conference also saw Trump announce that he would hand over management of his business to his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest.
