Trump on alleged Russian blackmail: I'm a 'germophobe'

President-elect Donald Trump said the salacious allegations about what may have occurred in a Russian hotel room are unbelievable, in part because he is a germaphobe.

“Does anyone really believe that story?” Trump asked reporters during a press conference on Wednesday. “I'm also very much of a germophobe, by the way, believe me.”


Trump did not directly answer a reporter’s question on whether he could be susceptible to blackmail by the Russian government, prompted by reports that intelligence officials last week presented Trump with a summary of unverified allegations that the Kremlin has compromising information on him.

But the president-elect said he is “very careful” when he travels abroad and tells his bodyguards, and those who accompany him, to be aware that there might be cameras in their hotel rooms.

“When I leave our country, I'm a very high-profile person, would you say? I am extremely careful. I'm surrounded by bodyguards. I'm surrounded by people. And I always tell them anywhere, but I always tell them, if I'm leaving this country, be very careful, because in your hotel rooms and no matter where you go, you're going to probably have cameras.”

On Tuesday night, CNN published a report stating that the U.S. intelligence community shared with Trump unsubstantiated claims that Russia had collected compromising personal and business information on Trump. BuzzFeed News later published the documents those claims were based on, though editor-in-chief Ben Smith said the allegations were “unverified" but the organization felt it needed to be transparent with its readers.