Obama to hold year-end press conference

President Obama will hold a press conference Friday before departing on a 17-day Hawaiian winter vacation.

“You can put on your calendar that the president will convene his traditional end-of-year news conference,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday.

{mosads}The White House said the event would likely come in the afternoon, although logistical details are still being ironed out.

It will be Obama’s first White House press conference since he addressed reporters a day after the November midterm elections.

The president is likely to face questions on a range of issues, including his recently announced effort to normalize relations with Cuba, as well as the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

On Thursday, Earnest said the hack — which is thought to be the work of North Korea — was being treated as “a serious national security matter” and that President Obama was considering “the range of appropriate responses.”

Obama could also face questions on the recently passed $1.1 trillion government funding bill — which he supported despite opposition from prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The president could also get asked about Russia’s ongoing financial crisis.