Trump in ‘Nazi’ outburst over Russian dossier claims
● Press conference chaos as reporters scramble for answers on allegations
US president-elect Donald Trump last night angrily denied allegations that Russia held compromising personal and financial information about him, and rounded on the US intelligence community, comparing it to the Gestapo.
In a rambling and ill-tempered press conference, the man who will be sworn in as the 45th president of the US in eight days’ time ignored questions about whether anyone in his campaign had had contact with Moscow during the election campaign. Instead, he became embroiled in heated exchanges with journalists, issued threats against news organisations, and claimed that if Russian president Vladimir Putin liked him, that would be “an asset not a liability”.
His ire intensified when asked about an unsubstantiated dossier published by US media, alleging that Russia’s FSB intelligence agency had obtained material concerning Mr Trump and prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room.
The claims, Mr Trump suggested, may have come from US intelligence
services, which if true, would be a “tremendous blot” on its record.
He said: “I think it was disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out, I think it’s a disgrace. And I say that, and that’s something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do.”
A belligerent Mr Trump, holding his first press conference since his surprise victory in November, said the details in the dossier was “all fake news” and “phoney stuff ”.
The dossier contained unproven information about close co-ordination between Mr Trump’s inner circle and Russians about hacking into Democratic Party accounts, as well as unproven claims Mr Trump had used prostitutes at the Ritz-carlton hotel in Moscow.
Addressing the document, Mr Trump said: “It didn’t happen and it was gotten by opponents of ours. It was a group of opponents who got together – sick people – and they put that crap together.
“Somebody released it. It shouldn’t have even entered paper but it should never have even been released. I read what was released and I think it was a disgrace.”
Asked if he would consider his position as president if the allegations were proved to be true, Mr Trump replied: “There’s nothing they can come back with.”
In the hours leading up to the press conference, Russia strenuously denied the allegations, initially reported by CNN, with Buzzfeed then releasing the full dossier.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Mr Putin, dismissed the articles as “pulp fiction” and “complete fabrication and utter nonsense”, adding: “This is an evident attempt to harm our bilateral ties. The Kremlin does not engage in collecting compromising information.”
Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokeswoman declined to comment.
The hour-long press conference in Trump Tower in Manhattan was originally intended for the Trump team to outline management plans for the billionaire’s business empire.
It began with Mr Trump discussing his plans for industry and job creation, but after he invited questions from the floor just seven minutes in, proceedings quickly descended into chaos, and Mr Trump’s initial conciliatory tones gave way to defiance and hostility, at times referring to himself in the third person.
Mr Trump insisted Moscow had “no leverage” over him as he had “no deals, no loans, no nothing” with Russia.
He said he accepted Mr Putin’s assurance that it had not been gathering information on him and hoped to enjoy good relations with Russia.
“If Putin likes Donald Trump I consider that an asset, not a liability because we have a horrible relationship with Russia,” said the president-elect.
He did not respond directly to a question about whether anyone connected to his campaign had any contact with Russia during the run-up to, or in the course of, the presidential election, but said his message to Mr Putin was that the hacking must stop.
“He shouldn’t be doing it. He won’t be doing it. Russia will have much greater respect for our country when I am leading it than when other people have led it. You will see that.” Mr Trump once again brushed off demands for the publication of his tax returns, sayinghewasunabletorelease them as they were under audit and claiming that voters had demonstrated that they “don’t care” about the issue by electing him president.
He promised that a replacement for Obamacare health coverage would be offered “essentially simultaneously” with the repeal of his predecessor’s signature health law – something that would be virtually impossible to quickly pass given the complexity of the policy changes. Republicans agree on repealing the law but nearly seven years after its passage have failed to reach agreement on its replacement.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said that repealing and replacing Obamacare was a top priority, but has never fully explained how he plans to do it.
Mr Trump also told journalists he would immediately begin negotiations with Mexico on funding his promised wall after he takes office. He again vowed that “Mexico will pay for the wall but it will be reimbursed”. Uk-russia relations descended into tit-for-tat exchange of insults over the government’s response to interference in the US election by hackers.
The Russian embassy in London accused the UK of mounting an “official witchhunt” after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson suggested Russia was “up to all sorts of very dirty tricks”.
In an extraordinary attack posted online, Russian diplomats accused the UK of briefing US president-elect Donald Trump against Moscow because of “panic and hysterics” caused by the Brexit result.
The embassy also suggested the UK was being hypocritical when criticising alleged Russian war crimes
Downing Street hits back at Russian Embassy after online attack By Paris Gourtsoyannis
in Syria, highlighting the use of British-made banned cluster bombs in the civil war in Yemen.
And it claimed that Britain had “outsourced” the fight against both Nazi Germany and Islamic extremism to Russia.
The embassy’s post said: “We don’t expect Her Majesty’s Government to win this argument in an open and reasoned debate. We also think that it is plainly wrong for one UNSC [UN Security Council] permanent member to brief against another.”
The post provoked a scathing reaction from Downing Street, with the Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman taking a swipe at Russia over its record on human rights, freedom of speech, the economy and the war in Syria.
The spokeswoman said: “You might think about negative economic growth in Russia and the UK being one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world; how many times the UK has consistently advanced and supported UN Security Council resolutions on Syria – I think Russia was meanwhile vetoing them; the fact that we have freedom of expression and a free press in the UK who will choose what they report.”
Meanwhile, a senior Labour source called for a “ratcheting down” of tensions between Russia and the West, particularly on Nato’s east European border.