Donald says he was NEVER briefed on fake dirty dossier and NEVER shown it by intelligence chiefs and ridicules its claim he was taped with Moscow hookers by confessing he's a 'germophobe'

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Donald Trump furiously denied he was ever briefed on a dossier of claims passed to intelligence chiefs that he was secretly taped watching degrading sex acts by prostitutes in Moscow.

He said he was never shown or told about the claims - published in full by Buzzfeed after a report by CNN - when he met intelligence chiefs last week.

'Does anyone believe that story? I'm also very much of a germophobe by the way,' he said at a press conference in New York.

He stared down the assembled media for the first time since he won the election Wednesday and opened with a blistering attack on the press and the intelligence community after the release of an unproven dirt dossier on him.

'It's all fake news. It's phony stuff. It didn't happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours,' Trump said. 

'Sick people – and they put that c**p together.'

Later, in a departure from his usual rhetoric, he said of election hacking: 'I think it was Russia.'

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President-elect Donald Trump blasted 'phony stuff' contained in a dirt dossier against him that was released and blasted whoever leaked it – mentioning the intelligence agencies

Attack: Trump warned that is was possible intelligence agencies had leaked the claims against him and said it would be 'a tremendous blot on their record if they did that.'

The crooked media: Trump took questions from the press in two separate appearances on stage during the conference - but refused to answer questions from 'fake news' outlet Buzzfeed who were behind the publication of the full Russian dossier

Trump also refused to call on CNN's Jim Acosta at the conference after the outlet broke the news on the prostitute allegations before Buzzfeed published the entire document

As soon as he took the stage, Trump opened up an attack on a flurry of salacious and unproven claims about compromising information Russia may hold over him.

He blasted those who published it, but in a twist, complimented outlets which stayed away from the claims. 

'They looked at that nonsense that was released by maybe the intelligence agencies,' Trump said, referencing a dirt dossier against him.

'Who knows, it may be the intelligence agencies – which would be a tremendous blot of their record if they did that,' Trump said, in just his latest shot at the intelligence community.

'A thing like that should have never been written … and it certainly should never have been released,' Trump continued. 

Then he hailed 'a couple' of news agencies who did not publish the dirt - an apparent reference to the New York Times and the Washington Post which had both said they were given the material but were unable to verify it. 

'And they came out so strongly against that fake news and the fact that it was written about primarily by one group and one television station,' he said, conflating reports by BuzzFeed, which released the dossier, and CNN, which reported that intelligence officials had provided a summary of information in a secret briefing.

Trump also addressed head-on – and rejected – claims that Russia had gained material with which it could blackmail him from the presidential suite of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow.

He said he constantly advises aides when traveling abroad to be mindful of potential snooping.

'I told many people, be careful because you don't want to see yourself on television – cameras all over the place.'

'When I leave our country I'm a very high-profile person, would you say?'

Trump said he is 'extremely careful.'

A family affair: Trump was joined by his three eldest children - Eric, Don Jr and Ivanka

He announced that Ivanka had relinquished all ties with his companies to join him in Washington, while his two sons will have full control of the business

The Trump children watched from the wings - alongside vice president-elect Mike Pence - as their father delivered his first press conference since winning the election

Team Trump: Also watching from the wings were Donald's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway (left) along with his son-in-law, Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner, who is a senior adviser to him and Steven Bannon, far right, his chief strategist

Degrading acts in bed used by president: The extraordinary - and entirely unverified - allegations that Donald Trump ordered prostitutes to commit degrading sex acts in the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow are contained in a dossier drawn up by a former British spy

Part of the document is seen above. Click here to see the full document first published by Buzzfeed 

Dealings: The dossier apparently includes claims about Trump's financial dealings with Moscow. In 2013 he held his Miss Universe contest in the Russian capital

'I'm surrounded by bodyguards. I'm surrounded by people. I always tell them if I'm leaving this country, be very careful.'

Speaking specifically to the hotel story described in the dirt dossier as a perverted act, Trump said: 'Does anyone really believe that story? I'm also very much of a germophobe, by the way. Believe me.'  

Trump was asked if, like President Obama, he believes the U.S. should punish Russia for what the intelligence community has concluded was its interference in the U.S. elections.

He answered instead with a defense of the benefit of strong U.S.-relations with Russia.

'If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability,' Trump said.

'Guess what folks, that's called an asset, not a liability.'

Returning to the dossier, he once again fingered the intelligence agencies as the leakers, calling it 'disgraceful.'

'That's something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do,' Trump said.

He called it 'a disgrace that information that was false and fake and never happened got released to the public.'

He added: 'I think it's pretty sad when intelligence reports get leaked out to the press. First of all, it's illegal. These are classified and certified meetings and reports.'

Then he told a story of an extraordinary sting operation he says he conducted on the nation's top spooks.

'I'll tell you what does happen. I have many meetings with intelligence. And every time I meet, people are reading about it.

Somebody's leaking them out,' Trump said, after inveighing against leaks.

'So I said maybe it's my office. Maybe my office. Because I've got a lot of people … Maybe it's them?'

'What I did, is I said I won't tell anyone. I'm going to have a meeting, and I won't tell anybody about my meeting with intelligence,' Trump continued.

'Nobody knew – not even Rhoda, my executive assistant for years. She didn't know – I didn't' tell her. Nobody knew.'

Having set the trap, Trump says the word leaked anyway

'The meeting was held. They left, and immediately the word got out that I had a meeting. So, I don't want that. It's very unfair to the country. It's very unfair to our country what's happening,' he said.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence said the reports 'can only be attributed to media bias – an attempt to demean the president-elect and our incoming administration.' 

With just nine days before his swearing-in, Trump prepared to take on the 'dishonest' media he frequently castigates – amid months of pent-up questions about his governing plans, his cabinet, and his vast business holdings.

Trump unloaded Wednesday morning on media reports that to intelligence officials had provided a two-page summary of information of claims that the Russians might have compromising information on Trump during a classified security briefing with him.  

A dossier of the dirt itself was subsequently published by Buzzfeed, which noted that it had not verified its contents.

'Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!' Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

'Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is 'A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.' Very unfair!' he tweeted shortly thereafter.

Trump's presser was set to begin just hours after Arizona senator and Trump critic John McCain admitted passing the dossier of claims of a Russian blackmail to the head of the FBI. 

'Late last year, I received sensitive information that has since been made public,' McCain said in a statement. 'Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the Director of the FBI.'

'That has been the extent of my contact with the FBI or any other government agency regarding this issue,' Trump said.

In other breaking news, Trump's secretary of state pick, Rex Tillerson, said in congressional testimony that 'Russia today poses a danger.'

'Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent Russia,' he added. Trump has repeatedly called for better U.S. ties with Russia. 

Reporters were also preparing to grill Trump about efforts to disentangle himself from his business. As late as 20 minutes before his news conference was to begin, Trump's transition had provided no written materials or explanation of how he would deal with his business interests. 

Trump has said he would step back from his business but hasn't previously outlined how. Trump's transition has revealed that Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, will joint he administration as a counselor to the president.

Ivanka Trump has said she is selling her own shares in the Trump organization, and has rented a house in Washington.

SHINE A LIGHT: A Trump Tower employee polishes the brass on a velvet rope in preparation for a press conference by President-elect Donald Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower

Trump scheduled his press conference on the same day controversial State Department nominee Rex Tillerson faced a confirmation hearing

Trump battled media reports on Twitter, noting that the Kremlin called the a 'total fabrication'

Trump tweeted that he has 'nothing to do with Russia'

The president-elect has said his two adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric Trump, will take charge of the organization. Trump has cancelled a handful of international deals, but still controls 500 companies that could present conflicts of interest.

Among those businesses getting scrutiny is Trump's luxury hotel in Washington, which opened for business in October.

Ethics experts have said if Trump accepts payment or gifts from a foreign power through his business, it would violate the Constitution's emoluments clause, which prohibits any gifts.

Trump's last press conference was July 27, when he took heat for what he later said was a joke when he invited Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails.