Questions about Russia dominate Trump news conference

President-elect Donald Trump held his first news conference today since winning the election, taking the opportunity to make a new cabinet announcement and pledge to reveal a replacement for Obamacare. But his response to ongoing claims of Russian influence overshadowed most other news coming out of the event. Trump told reporters he didn’t know whether he would get along with Russian President Vladimir Putin once installed in the White House. But he called his relationship with the Russian leader an asset, not a liability, and an improvement over the “horrible” state of current U.S.-Russia relations. In between fielding questions about Russia, Trump announced he would nominate David Shulkin to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Shulkin currently serves as the agency’s undersecretary. Trump also told reporters he would make a Supreme Court nomination in the next two weeks and unveil a new healthcare plan “essentially simultaneously” with the confirmation of his Health and Human Services secretary nominee, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. Flanked by his attorney, Trump also announced he would hand over control of his business empire to his sons, place his assets in a trust, and take unspecified steps to distance himself from his company. The Trump Organization will continue to pursue deals in the United States but not internationally, as long as Trump is in office.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.