Trump backs off ‘lock her up’ talk
President-elect also rejects concerns of business conflict and softens stand on climate
WASHINGTON— Donald Trump dismissed concerns over the risk for conflicts of interest between his global business empire and his new job as the president of the United States on Tuesday.
“The law’s totally on my side: the president can’t have a conflict of interest,” the president-elect told the New York Times in a wide-ranging interview at the newspaper’s headquarters.
Trump also told the paper he had no desire to pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, said he would “keep an open mind” about whether to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate change agreement and disavowed praise and support from the so-called “alt-right,” a white supremacist movement.
Trump is correct that presidents are largely exempt from the strict conflict-of-interest laws that block U.S. government employees from acting in their own personal interest.
“In theory, I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There’s never been a case like this,” he said.
Nevertheless, most modern presidents and major-party nominees, including Ronald Reagan, both Bushes, Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney, have committed to either sell their interests or place them in a “blind trust” run by an independent overseer.
Trump told the Times he is in the process of handing over his businesses to his children.
Asked why he changed his mind on criminal charges against Clinton, Trump told the Times, “She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many ways.” Going after her, he added, is “just not something that I feel very strongly about.”
Trump taking a position on the question of charges against Clinton is a break with U.S. political and legal protocol, which holds that the at- torney general and the FBI should decide to conduct investigations and file charges — or not — free of presidential influence.
His reversal on investigating Clinton raised further questions about the gulf between his fiery campaign promises and what he intends to do as the nation’s 45th president. In the interview, Trump also: Disavowed white supremacists who celebrated his election with Nazi-salutes at a conference in Washington over the weekend. “I disavow and condemn them,” he said.
Offered a robust defence of his campaign chairperson and newly appointed chief strategist, Stephen Bannon. “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.
Said he thinks there’s “some connectivity” between humans and climate change, a reversal from his campaign trail declaration that manmade climate change is a hoax.
Confirmed reports that he is strongly considering former general James Mattis as his nominee for defence secretary. He also said he was surprised when he asked Mattis about his views on the practice of waterboarding and Mattis told him he was opposed to it.
Conceded that when he had raised the possibility of changing libel laws with an associate, Trump says the person told him, “You know, you might be sued a lot more.’ I said, ‘You know, I hadn’t thought of that.’ ” With files from Star wire services