17 expected missiles to be triggered on Trump in first encounter with press

Donald Trump on Wednesday is set to take the podium in New York City for his first official news conference since being elected president.

From replacing Obamacare to whether Mexico will pay for the wall, here are 17 questions reporters should ask the president-elect.

1. "You just met with officials from the U.S. intelligence community. Do you accept their assessment that Russia hacked the emails of Democrats to try to influence the election?"

The Obama administration, most Democrats and many Republicans have accepted the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia made an effort to swing the election to Trump. But the incoming president stopped short of that in his statement after meeting with intelligence leaders on Friday. 

2. "Will your healthcare plan cover as many people as Obamacare? And how are you going to keep coverage for pre-existing conditions but ditch the individual mandate without collapsing the individual insurance market?"

Trump vowed throughout his campaign to repeal and replace President Obama's signature health care law. And now, along with a Republican-controlled Congress, he has the chance. Republicans on Capitol Hill all agree on repealing Obamacare. The open question are the details of the replacement.

3. "Who are the final three or four names on your Supreme Court shortlist?"

Trump has narrowed his list down to a handful of people but has not identified them.

4. "How will you get Mexico to reimburse the United States for building a wall on the southern border?" 

It's Trump's most famous campaign promise: he's going to build a wall along the border and make Mexico pay for it. Trump is already working with Congress to try to build the wall — but now it looks like taxpayers will pay for it first. Trump said Friday he'll find a way to have Mexico pay it back. How so?

5. "During the campaign, you called for a 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.' Will you implement this when you take office?"

Trump's so-called Muslim ban proposal came after the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino. He has also called for "extreme vetting" of immigrants to weed out potential radical Islamic terrorists, as well as restricting people from countries with large numbers of terrorists.

6. "Can you tell us more about your thoughts on the nuclear arsenal? Are you calling for an even greater buildup?"

Trump tweeted before Christmas that the United States must expand its capabilities, then said "let there be an arms race." The United States is already embarking on a $1 trillion, decades-long program to recapitalize the nuclear triad. 

7. "During the campaign, you spoke of eliminating or scaling back federal agencies, including possibly the EPA and the Department of Education. What are your plans for doing away with and cutting federal departments and agencies?"

At a Republican primary debate, Trump said: "If you look at every single agency, we can cut it down, and I mean really cut it down and save."

8. "What's the point of being so mean to Sen. Schumer?"

Trump will need Democrats to pass his agenda — at least eight Democrats each time the GOP needs to pass a bill in the Senate. Calling the Senate minority leader the "head clown" of the Democratic Party runs the risk of making it harder for Trump to collect Democratic support.

9. "How are you going to stop Kim Jong-Un from getting a nuclear weapon that can threaten the U.S.?"

North Korea's leader says his country is in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile with the range to hit the continental United States. He claims to have a nuclear warhead small enough be delivered by an ICBM, which means he could threaten the U.S. with a nuclear strike. Trump has said "it won't happen" and earlier said North Korea is China's problem. But Kim Jong Un sees nukes as the only way to hold onto power, and so has been undeterred by either punishing sanctions or incentives. What next? A military strike that risks all-out war on the Korea peninsula?

10. "Why do you think you can reset any type of relationship with Russia after George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton failed to do so? Why trust Putin, a former KGB officer, for anything other than cunning manipulation?"

Trump continues to advocate for a warmer relationship with the Kremlin, which he hopes to achieve by focusing on areas where American and Russian interests align.

11. "How do you plan to fund your infrastructure plan while also promising to cut taxes without growing the deficit?"

Trump has promised $1.5 trillion in new spending while also proposing a tax cut that could eliminate up to $6 trillion in federal revenue.

12. "You've promised to 'drain the swamp' in Washington. How will you do that and ensure people like your former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, aren't going to profit off selling access to you?"

Lewandowski, along with former aide Barry Bennett, just announced a new public affairs firm just steps away from the White House.

13. "Are you breaking promises you made to conservatives during the campaign?"

Trump no longer calls for a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. He says he wants to keep the most popular parts of Obamacare. Trump says he now has an open mind about the Paris climate change agreement. He has reconsidered his support for waterboarding. And he now says American taxpayers will pay for the wall before getting Mexico to reimburse.

14. "During the campaign, you railed against Wall Street. Do you think the millions of working class people who voted for your populist message want you to surround yourself with Goldman bankers?"

Trump appointed former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary. He also selected Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn to be his top economic adviser. His senior adviser, Steve Bannon, is a former Goldman banker, as is Anthony Scaramucci, a member of his transition executive committee.

15. "What do you make of the state of race relations in the United States as you take office?"

A story that dominated headlines last week: four African Americans were arrested in Chicago for hate crimes last week after torturing a white man with special needs. At one point, they yelled at the victim to say "fuck Trump." Will Trump be asked to weigh in?

16. "Can you explain the arrangement for leaving your business interests to your children? And what steps you will take to avoid conflicts of interests?"

Concerns have also been raised about foreign dignitaries intentionally staying at Trump's D.C. hotel in order to curry favor with the incoming-president.

17. "Have you learned anything in the transition — about the magnitude of the job, the inner workings of our government or the challenges facing our country — that you did not already know?"

Is Trump capable of introspection? Reporters like to ask those questions. We'll see.