Donald Trump distances himself from the far right
President-elect Donald Trump has disavowed far-right groups in the US after a controversial video emerged online of supporters "hailing" him in the style of a Nazi salute.
Speaking at a meeting with New York Times journalists, Trump said: "I don't want to energise the group, and I disavow the group. And if they are energised I want to look into it and find out why."
He did, however, defend choosing Steve Bannon – executive chairman of far-right news site Breitbart News – as his chief strategist.
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"I've known Steve Bannon for a long time. If I thought he was racist or alt-right or any of the things, the terms we could use, I wouldn't even think about hiring him," Trump said.
"Breitbart is just a publication. They cover stories like you cover stories. They are certainly a much more conservative paper, to put it mildly, than the New York Times. But Brietbart really is a news organisation that has become quite successful. It’s got readers, and it does cover subjects on the right, but it covers subjects on the left also. It’s a pretty big thing."
Trump's policy agenda became clearer yesterday after he released a video saying that the US would be leaving the Trans-Pacific Partnership and supporting jobs in American energy production.
He also caused a stir in the UK yesterday, after tweeting that Nigel Farage would do a "good job" as the UK's ambassador to the US.