NEW YORK,
Jan. 11 -- In his
first news conference since being elected president, Donald Trump announced Wednesday he plans to turn
over all his business operations to a trust controlled by his two adult ons and
a longtime associate.
The president-elect, along with help from his lawyer, Sheri
Dillon, laid out the changes to his vast business operations in a wide-ranging
press conference that included Russian hacking, Cabinet appointments and
healthcare reform.
Speaking from Trump Tower, Dillon announced how a
"wall" will be placed between Trump and the Trump Organization when
he becomes president on Jan. 20.
She called it a "blind trust of the presidency" but
noted "you can't have a total blind trust. You can't unknow it's Trump
Tower."
Trump will not be involved with his business, including
receiving financial details. All of his investments will be liquidated.
They announced he will donate to the United States government
all profits from foreign government payments to his hotels. And the Trump
Organization will also refrain from entering into any new deals with foreign
partners, which will mean an immediate financial loss "of millions of
dollars" for the family, Dillon said.
He said his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, will be involved
"in a professional manner," along with his long-time executive, Alan
Weisselberg.
"My two sons are going to be running the company," he
said. "They are going to be running it in a very professional way. They're
not going to discuss it with me."
Additionally, his daughter, Ivanka
Trump, will have no role with the company as her family prepares to move to
Washington. Earlier in the week, Trump named Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner,
as senior adviser to the president.
Next to the lectern were stacks of papers that detailing the
terms of the trust.
Russian hacking
During Wednesday's press conference, Trump also took the
opportunity to say he believes Russia is behind hacking into Democratic
organizations during the 2016 election.
"I think it was Russia," he said of hacking into the
emails of members of the Democratic National Committee.
His admission came less than a week after U.S. intelligence
officials brief him and President Barack
Obama on Russia's alleged
attempts to meddle in the presidential election.
The media
During that briefing, Trump and Obama also learned about
unverified reports from a former British MI6 agent who said Russia had compromising information about Trump they planned to use to
blackmail him.
Trump blasted organizations that published the specific
allegations, calling it "nonsense." He refused to answer a question
from CNN reporter Jim Acosta, labeling the organization as "fake
news," and said BuzzFeed was a "failing pile of garbage."
CNN did not publish the specific, unverified details, though
BuzzFeed did.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin,
called the report "pulp
fiction" and said the
Kremlin does not have information on Trump.
Affordable Care Act
Trump also said he plans to simultaneously repeal and replace
the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
He said "we are doing a tremendous service" to the
Democrats by quickly replacing Obamacare because it would "easily
implode" this year. Without giving details, he said coverage will be
"far less expensive and far better" than the current plan.
Confirmation hearings
Trump said he was quite pleased with how the Senate confirmation
hearings were going with his Cabinet selections.
"I want to bring the greatest people in business,"
Trump said. "I need people that are smart, people that are
successful."
Also Wednesday, Trump
named Dr. David Shulkin, the current Under Secretary of Health for the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs, to the the veterans affairs Cabinet post.
And he said he plans to announce a nominee to fill the opening
on the Supreme Court within two weeks.
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