In a far-ranging interview with the New York Times, the US
president-elect was quoted as saying: "I condemn them. I disavow, and I
condemn." He said he did not want to "energise" the group, which
includes neo-Nazis, white nationalists and anti-Semites.
Alt-right supporters were filmed on Saturday in Washington
DC cheering as a speaker shouted: "Hail Trump." In the video, Richard
Spencer, a leader of the "alt-right" movement, told a conference of
members that America belongs to white people, whom he described as
"children of the sun".
He denounced the movement's critics as "the most
despicable creatures who ever walked the planet" "Hail Trump, hail
our people, hail victory!" Spencer shouts at one point as some members of
the audience raise their arms in the Nazi salute.
The gathering on Saturday drew protesters who blocked
traffic around the Ronald Reagan Building, a federally owned conference centre
in the nation's capital. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern on
Tuesday that Mr Trump's election victory could give succour to white
supremacists.
A senior official close to her described the "Hail
Trump" video as "repulsive and worrying". But Mr Trump stood by
his chief strategist Steve Bannon, the former CEO of Breitbart News, and
bristled at claims that the ultra conservative site was associated with the
white nationalist movement.
Media captionWhite supremacist Richard Spencer: "Donald
Trump's arrow is pointing in our direction." Media caption'Alt-right is
unstoppable,' says Milo Yiannopoulos. Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads. Breitbart:
The web that connects Trump and Farage. "Breitbart is just a publication.
They cover stories like you cover stories," he told the New York Times.
"If I thought he was a racist or alt-right or any of
the things, the terms we could use, I wouldn't even think about hiring
him", he said of Mr Bannon. In Mr Trump's interview with the New York
Times he addressed a range of topics:
Son-in-law Jared Kushner - a real estate heir who has no
experience of diplomacy - could help forge peace between Israel and
Palestinians, he suggested. The US should not be a "nation-builder"
in the world, he argued. Republican leaders Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell
"love" him again, he asserted.
He could run his business and the country both
"perfectly" with no conflict of interest. There is some
"connectivity" between human activity and climate change. Earlier on
Tuesday, Mr Trump's spokeswoman said he would not follow up on a campaign
pledge to pursue a further inquiry into Hillary Clinton's emails.
His adviser said the president-elect would not appoint a
special prosecutor to investigate the former secretary of state, and dropping
the matter would help her "heal". Later, Mr Trump was quoted as
telling the New York Times: "I don't want to hurt the Clintons, I really
don't. "She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different
ways."
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