Trump: No kids' security clearances or cabinet appointments, surprise dinner

President-elect Donald Trump is denying efforts are underway to get security clearances for his adult children.

In a post on his verified Twitter account @realDonaldTrump early Wednesday, the billionaire businessman who's to be inaugurated as the nation's 45th president on Jan. 20, said, "I am not trying to get top security clearances for my children."

Trump, who has been immersed in transition planning at his office skyscraper in New York in recent days, added, "This was a typically false news story."

There had been rampant speculation in recent days an effort he was trying to get security clearances for his adult children. Asked about it earlier this week, Kellyanne Conway, who was Trump's campaign manager, said in a broadcast interview she wasn't "intimately' familiar with the issue and indicated she couldn't confirm it.

Courtesy Twitter/Taylor Riggs via Storyful. Storyful reports the tweeter later corrected the name of the restaurant.

Trump hadn't been seen in public for days until Tuesday night, when he walked into New York's 21 Club to applause from fellow diners. The unannounced evening out with family was a contrast to the behind-the scenes machinations that suggested a struggling transition as names surfaced and sank for top administration positions.

Several reporters and other members of the media also tweeted about the dinner, saying Trump ditched his press pool to have dinner with his family. The Trump camp has had a strained relationship with the press. Just last week, he left behind a press pool assigned to cover his meeting with President Obama.

Not to worry about not being seen, Trump suggested in a Tuesday night tweet: "Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!"

Before dinner at the midtown Manhattan restaurant -- he broke with protocol and left his press contingent behind -- Trump met with the head of his transition team, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, but another day passed without a Cabinet announcement.