Into the lion's den: Trump's second interview by New York Times; 7 U-turns of President-elect
Los angeles : In a new interview with New York Times, President-elect Donald Trump took a completely U-turn on several of his previous statements. He appeared to temper his stance on a handful of major campaign promises in an hour-long interview with the newspaper on Tuesday afternoon.
Let us take a look at 7 things he discussed with the newspaper:
On Clinton: During his Presidential campaigns in 2016, many times Trump said that he planned to assign a special prosecutor to pursue charges against Clinton over her email issues but shifted his stance during his interview with Times.
He was heard saying, "I don't want to hurt the Clintons, I really don't. Prosecuting Clinton would be very, very divisive for the country."
On Climate Change: During his campaigns,, Trump maintained that global warming is simply a hoax and that he might abandon America's involvement in international climate pact reached in Paris last year. But on the interview he twisted his stands by saying, "I'm looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it. Clean air and crystal clear water are important.”
On Waterboarding: During Presidential campaign, Trump time and again favoured of the US extending laws to bring back extreme interrogate tactics such as waterboarding — torturing a practice but in his recent interview he said, 'I've never found it to be useful. Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, and I'll do better. Torture is not going to make the kind of a difference that a lot of people are thinking."
Conflicts of interests: If earlier people thought that Trump's businesses ties could pose conflicts of interest now that he's been elected to the White House, the President-elect dismissed any concern, saying "the law's totally on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest."
Nazi salutes: Trump denounced white nationalists who gave him the Nazi salute and said, "Of course I condemn their actions. I disavow and condemn."
Defending Stephen Bannon: Trump recently named Stephen Bannon, the former chairman of conservative website Breitbart News, as his chief strategist. However, critics condemned the step by saying Bannon is racist, anti-Semitic, and associated with the controversial "alt-right" movement. However, Trump maintained his stand and said, "I've known Steve Bannon a long time. If I thought he was a racist or alt-right. I wouldn't even think about hiring him."
On Jared Kushner: Showing love for his family and respecting their decisions, Trump said he might make Kushner, an Orthodox Jew, a special envoy to help broker peace in the Middle East. He added, “Kushner would be very good at it especially as he knows the region well."
