Donald Trump has decided to postpone his first press conference as President-elect until January.
The press conference, previously scheduled for mid-December, had been advertised as an opportunity for him to address his plan for dealing with potential conflicts of interest stemming from his businesses. It was to be his first press conference since July.
One transition official said the postponement is largely because of the transition’s focus on personnel, but also underscores the complexities facing Trump lawyers as they try to figure this whole thing out. “This isn’t exactly easy stuff,” the official said of the process.
But Trump’s critics saw the decision as an attempt to avoid scrutiny from the press.
It’s been 44 days since Trump won the election, and 148 days since his last press conference, when he encouraged Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s email servers.
The president-elect tweeted on November 30th that he would hold a “major news conference” with his children on New York City this coming Thursday.
In subsequent tweets, Trump said he would use the time to discuss “the fact that I will be leaving my … great business in total order” to focus on the presidency, which he called “a far more important task.”
