President-Elect Donald Trump Holds First Press Conference Since July

Donald Trump is facing the media for the first time since he was elected President of the United States. The press conference started with Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer denying the claims in recently released intelligence report that claim Russia had damaging information on Trump and was using it to blackmail the President-Elect. 

In his opening remarks to the press Trump addressed the report and praised the media, which had seen the report over the summer but could not verify the claims and did not report on it. He questioned whether the intelligence agencies leaked the document to the media and said it would be a "tremendous blot" on them if they did. 

He also spoke about how he will be great for the economy and touted recent news of auto companies changing plans to build factories in Mexico and instead keep those jobs in the US. He said he will "the greatest job producer God ever created."

Before he took questions, he also announced his pick for head secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin.

The first question Trump was asked was about the report released by Buzzfeed on Tuesday night. He denied the reports, and said he could not discuss the classified briefing he received. He said it's all fake news, and it's all due to a group of opponents who he called "sick people." He did say that he believed Russia was behind the hacking of the DNC. 

Trump was then addressed the potential conflict's of interest that may arise from his business dealings. He brought up Sheri Dillon to discuss how he plans to separate himself from his businesses. She said he's relinquishing management to his sons. She pointed out that he "should not be expected to destroy the company he built". She also said that Trump will donate any money spent by foreign governments at his hotel to the U.S. Treasury. 

Trump was asked about the repeal of Obamacare and the plans to replace President Obama's signature healthcare law. The Republican Party has been split on how to handle the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Trump said he expects the law to be repealed and simultaneously replaced with a better plan.  

Donald Trump continued his attacks on the mainstream media, calling out CNN and Buzzfeed for their reporting on the leaked intelligence memos that claimed Russia had damaging information on the President-Elect. After calling out the news organizations, Jim Acosta from CNN tried to ask a question but Trump denied him, and telling him CNN is fake news.  

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