Obama reveals his last news conference as President

Barack Obama has revealed in his last news conference as President that he advised Donald Trump not to make decisions on his own.

In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session, the outgoing commander-in-chief discussed his thoughts and feelings on his successes and failures and what expects in the future.

Without stating the detail of what he told the incoming President, he said in some "fairly lengthy" conversations he recommended he should seek the help of his advisers.

He said: "A lot of his views are going to be shaped by his advisers are the people around him, which is why it is important to listen to the confirmation hearings.

"This is something I have told him, this is the job of such magnitude that you can't do it by yourself.

"You are enormously reliant on the team, your Cabinet, your senior White House staff come all the way to failure each junior folks in their 20s and 30s those who are executing on responsibilities.

"How do make sure they are getting you the right information? That is probably the most useful advice and the most constructive advice I have been able to give him."

In other answers to questions, Mr Obama:

•  Explained why he had decided to commute the sentence of convicted spy Chelsea Manning, something which has been widely criticised by Republicans.

•  Emphasised why the US had felt it important to stand up to Russia over Ukraine and, in doing so, made clear that the sanctions America imposed were not designed to be a tool to get Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table to discuss nuclear disarmament.

•  Expressed his disappointment at not being able to persuade Israel to stop building settlements in the Palestinian Territories, which he said had the potential to make a two-state solution "impossible".

•  Talked of the satisfaction he felt that he had managed to open the Cuban government to an alternative way of governing their country, by showing them the achievements of Cubans living in the US.

•  Stated what would need to happen for him to feel compelled to re-enter the political fray.

He said he would speak out if he saw "systematic discrimination" being ratified, "obstacles" being put in place to prevent people being able to vote, efforts being made to "silence dissent" and efforts being made to "round up kids" born outside the US but who "for all practical purposes are American".

•  He also spoke of his pride that that during his tenure American had transformed with respect to the acceptance of people from the LGBT community.

This included the work his administration did to replace the Armed Forces' 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy to ensure that gay people could serve.

•  He talked repeatedly about his concerns for the future of democracy and the freedom of the press.

In a personal thank you to the reporters in the room, he said the press is essential to the grand experiment of self government that is the US and its democracy.

• He said he was optimistic for the future, not just because of the next generation he had met, who he said were "smarter" than previous generations, but also because he believed that he was not a one-off.

In future, he said, there would be a "woman president... a Latino president... a Jewish president... a Hindu president... who knows who we are going to have."

•  He admitted there was still work to be done on inequality and the issue of race.

On his reasons why he cut Chelsea Manning's sentence, he said: "Given she went to trial, that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence she received was very disproportionate to what other leakers served, she had served a significant amount of time, that it made sense to commute, and not pardon, her sentence."