CLOSE President-elect Donald Trump denounces the unverified Russian report released by Buzzfeed and thanks media organizations who didn't share the report. USA TODAY NETWORK

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference Jan. 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo11: Seth Wenig, AP)

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday at a news conference that he had no business relations with Russia, except that "I guess I sell condos to Russians."

Trump was responding to questions on allegations that Russian agencies hacked Democratic National Committee emails.

“What do I have to do with Russia? You know the closest I came to Russia, I bought a house a number of years ago in Palm Beach, Fla.," Trump said. "There was a man who went bankrupt and I bought the house for $40 million and I sold it to a Russian for $100 million including brokerage commissions. So I sold it. So I bought it for 40, I sold it for 100 to a Russian. That was a number of years ago."

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

Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017

Without access to Trump’s tax returns, it may not be possible to tell whether the president-elect has Russian assets currently. However, here is some background on his dealings with Russia.

Trump properties attract Russian buyers

Trump first traveled to Moscow in the 1980s, to discuss renovating hotels there. After several bankruptcies made it hard to raise money in the United States for his high-end hotel and condominium projects since the 1990s, Trump, and later his children, traveled to Moscow to talk deals and attract buyers, according to interviews with people who have worked with Trump over the years and news accounts. They show far greater commercial ties between Trump and Russia than generally known.

Real estate brokers in New York, Florida and Dubai told USA TODAY in December that Trump properties still attract high-end buyers from Russia, as well as from other countries.

Back in 2008, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. told investors in Moscow that the Trump Organization had trademarked the Donald Trump name in Russia and planned to build housing and hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi, and to sell licenses to other developers, according to the Russian daily Kommersant.

Trump's bromance with Putin

Last month, Trump praised President Vladimir Putin's surprise decision to forgo retaliation in response to sanctions imposed by President Obama on Russia. Trump said in a tweet: "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!"

Trump has also welcomed Putin's involvement in Syria's civil war, saying U.S. forces would work with their Russian counterparts, and he indicated Syrian President Bashar Assad could remain in power. President Obama wants Assad to step down because of atrocities committed against his own people.

In regard to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Trump said during his campaign that he might recognize Russia's claim to Crimea, which had been part of Russia until 60 years ago, because most Crimeans seem to prefer Russian control of the province. He downplayed fears in Ukraine that Russia might send troops into its neighbor to grab more territory.

Don't forget about Miss Universe Pageant

Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov spent $20 million to hold the Miss Universe Pageant that Trump brought to Moscow in 2013. The venue was Agalarov’s Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow. During Trump’s stay in Moscow, the two became so close that Trump even took part in a music video with Agalarov’s son, Emin.

“Mr. Trump spent almost a week here with us,” Aras Agalarov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper in an interview on Nov. 9, the day after Trump won the election. “Emin had a request — if he could appear in his video. And Donald said: ‘Well, I’ll have 10 minutes, if you can do it in one take.’ And it was done in one take.”

The billionaire denied media reports that he was financing Trump, however: “I can’t finance myself, and I’m going to finance the president of the United States? We’re all in such a crisis that we don’t have time for the U.S. president. We’re thinking about how to get out of the economic situation we are in.”

Agalarov and his son told Russian media in 2013 that they were looking into other projects with Trump, potentially including a Trump Tower near Crocus City Hall, a project estimated as being worth up to $350 million. The project was put on hold when Trump ran for president.

“When Donald Trump was here in Moscow he said a lot of good things about our country, our culture, our people,” Agalarov told Komsomolskaya Pravda in 2015. “And in his interviews he says that if he becomes president of the United States he will certainly keep in mind that he has friends in Russia.”

Contributing: Oren Dorell

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