Obama holds final press conference, explains Trump's election victory.

US President Obama just held his final press conference. He answered questions about Russia, Israel, and the reasons why Trump won the election.

The outgoing US president began his press conference by speaking about the importance of journalists, who have "driven government to become better."

The first question raised concerned Chelsea Manning.

President Obama stated that his decision to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence was "entirely appropriate," arguing that the man behind one of the largest leaks of classified information in U.S. history received a harsh but fitting prison sentence.

"I feel relieved that justice has been served," Obama said, rejecting criticism that his actions would encourage future espionage and the leaking of classified documents.

Manning, a former intelligence analyst, was arrested seven years ago for leaking more than 700,000 diplomatic cables, videos, and documents to WikiLeaks, which then exposed the true nature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Chelsea Manning has received a tough prison sentence," President Obama emphasized.

"I believe that when Manning went to trial, a proper process had been conducted and she had to accept responsibility for her crimes. The sentence Manning received was disproportionate to what other whistleblowers received, and she had already served a considerable amount of time, so a reduction in sentence, not a pardon, was part of her punishment."

"The commutation of sentences sends a message that whistleblowers need to work through established channels to highlight concerns about government actions," Obama said.

At the press conference, President Obama also blamed his counterpart Putin and mentioned continuing sanctions related to developments in Ukraine.

The White House leader also spoke about America's role as a guarantor, stating that "big countries don't go around invading and bullying smaller countries." "In multilateral issues, America always stands on the right side of the issue."

When asked whether he would try to maintain his legacy while Donald Trump was president, Obama replied, "It is perfectly appropriate for Trump to implement his vision and values; I don't expect a major overlap." He added that, as president, "there will be the complexity of certain issues, and that will lead him to make decisions similar to those I made when I was president."

Explaining why Donald Trump won the presidential election, Obama said: "Many people voted for Trump because they felt forgotten and disenfranchised...". Obama also said that rumors of voter fraud were "fake news," but that the problem was that there were people who were eligible to vote but were unable to do so.

According to Vietnamnet