Donald Trump tells world 'don't be afraid' in first television interview since winning presidency - and reveals he will earn only $1 a year

Donald Trump has backtracked on his promise to imprison Hillary Clinton in his first televised interview since becoming president-elect, insisting that he is a “sober person” who will prioritise healthcare, tax reform and immigration.

Mr Trump appeared on CBS News show 60 Minutes on Sunday night, accompanied by his four adult children and wife, Melania.

He used the interview to reiterate his belief that he knows more about Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) than America’s military chiefs, and announce that he would not be taking the $400,000 salary that comes with the presidency.

He also spoke of his reaction upon election, and once again praised President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump being interviewed on 60 Minutes
Donald Trump being interviewed on 60 Minutes Credit: CBS

On realising he was going to be the 45th president:

Mr Trump is said to have fallen silent as it dawned on him that he had won the race for the White House. “It's enormous,” he told Lesley Stahl, the interviewer.

“I've done a lot of big things, I've never done anything like this. It is so big, it is enormous, it's so amazing.”

He was asked whether the moment took his breath away.

“A little bit, a little bit.

“And I think I realised that this is a whole different life for me now.”

On Hillary Clinton:

Mr Trump spoke for the first time about Mrs Clinton’s call, in the early hours of Wednesday, to concede defeat. He praised her grace and decency, saying:  “She couldn't have been nicer. She just said, ‘Congratulations, Donald, well done.’ 

“And I said, ‘I want to thank you very much, you were a great competitor.’ She is very strong and very smart.”

He also heaped praise on Bill Clinton, refusing to rule out turning to him for advice in the future – despite hating him so much on the campaign trail he brought a series of women to a debate who all accuse him of sexual misconduct.

And, despite having egged on chants of “Lock her up!” the president-elect suggested he may scrap his plan to put her on trial for mishandling classified information.

“I'm going to think about it,” he said. “I don't want to hurt them. They’re good people.”  

On Barack Obama:

Mr Trump rose to political prominence questioning Mr Obama’s birthplace and fueling questions about his legitimacy as president – a conspiracy theory that many saw as racism.

On the campaign trail Mr Trump described Mr Obama, who he had never met in person until Wednesday, as “a disaster” and “the worst president in history.”

But after their meeting, Mr Trump changed his tune.

“I found him to be terrific,” he told Stahl. “I found him to be very smart and very nice. Great sense of humour.”

He also rejected the idea that the vote was a repudiation of Mr Obama’s presidency.

“No, I think it's a moment in time where politicians for a long period of time have let people down,” he said.

On his fitness for the presidency:

Mr Trump admitted that his temperament had been a stick with which the Democrats had beaten him.

But he denied that he was a hot-headed narcissist, and said that he was in fact a calm, rational person. The idea of him as a dangerously unhinged individual, as Mrs Clinton referred to him, was all a media myth, he said.

“I think I'm a sober person,” he said.

“I think the press tries to make you into something a little bit different. In my case, a little bit of a wild man. I'm not. I'm actually not.

“Sometimes you need a certain rhetoric to get people motivated.”

Donald Trump and his family interviewed in his apartment at Trump Tower for CBS
Donald Trump and his family at Trump Tower, New York

On not taking a salary:

Mr Trump said he and his administration wouldn't be 'very big on vacations because there was 'so much work to be done'.

He said he would not take the $400,000 presidential salary. "I think I have to by law take $1, so I'll take $1 a year," Mr Trump added.

On Obamacare:

Mr Trump campaigned promising to scrap Obamacare, Mr Obama’s flagship policy aimed at providing all Americans with healthcare.

Yet on Sunday night he said he had now decided to keep two elements of it – the right for young adults to be insured on their parents’ policy, and the enabling of those with pre-existing conditions to get insurance.

On whether he will deport 11 million people:

Mr Trump said that there were two or three million illegal immigrants who had criminal records. But he refused to reiterate his plan to deport all 11 million “illegals”.

He said: “After the border is secured and after everything gets normalised, we're going to make a determination.”

Donald J. Trump, the US president-elect, interviewed by Lesley Stahl for CBS's 60 Minutes, at Trump Tower in New York
Donald Trump speaks to CBS's Lesley Stahl Credit: CBSNews/60MINUTES

On people being 'afraid of him'

Mr Trump believes those who are afraid of him are only afraid because they don't know him. He said some protesters were professionals - a claim he also made on Twitter on Friday, the day the interview was taped.

When Stahl asked what he would say to those demonstrating against him, Mr Trump replied: "Don't be afraid. We are going to bring our country back. But certainly, don't be afraid. You know, we just had an election and sort of like you have to be given a little time.

"I mean, people are protesting. If Hillary had won and if my people went out and protested, everybody would say, 'Oh, that's a terrible thing.' And it would have been a much different attitude. There is a different attitude. You know, there is a double standard here."

On why his transition team is filled with lobbyists:

Mr Trump campaigned to “drain the swamp” and insisted that, if elected, he would bring fresh blood into Washington. Yet it was pointed out to him that his transition team is full of lobbyists and political veterans – Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani among them.

He defended his team being full of “insiders”, saying they were the ones who could make it work. And he said that, over time, new people would come on board.

“There are all people that work,” he said. “That's the problem with the system. Right now, we're going to clean it up.”

On abortion and gay rights:

Mr Trump has been, for most of his life, socially liberal. But on the campaign trail he veered right and adopted conservative positions – insisting he was against abortion, and praising “family values.”

He admitted that he was unlikely to be able to repeal the gay marriage law – one of Mr Obama’s most lasting changes.

But he said states would be able to choose whether to allow abortion. When Stahl said that could mean women having to go to another state for an abortion, Mr Trump accepted that that could happen.

“They’ll perhaps have to go, they'll have to go to another state,” he said.

On protests and hate crime:

Mr Trump said he was shocked by reports of racist graffiti and chants after his election.

“I am very surprised to hear that - I hate to hear that,” he said.

“I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, ‘Stop it.’ If it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it.”

He reiterated his suspicion that some of the demonstrations against his victory were organised. But he attempted to reassure Americans, telling them he would be a president for them all.

On Twitter:

Mr Trump has almost 15 million followers on Twitter, and has used it in an unprecedented fashion to air his views.

He said that, after his Jan 20 inauguration, he would be far more self-censoring.

“I'm going to do very restrained, if I use it at all,” he said.

But he said he enjoyed Twitter.

“I find it tremendous. It's a modern form of communication. There should be nothing you should be ashamed of.”

On the “rigged” system:

On the campaign trail Mr Trump insisted that the system was “rigged” against him. But, when he won through the electoral college – losing the popular vote – he said he felt the system had worked.

Asked if it was still “rigged”, he replied: “Some of the system is.”

He defended the electoral college system, though.

“There's a reason for doing this because it brings all the states into play, and there's something very good about that. I do respect the system.”

On his plan for defeating Isil:

Once again, Mr Trump refused to detail his plan. He stuck with his previous assertion that giving detail was alerting the enemy, and refused to explain – even when told he owed it to Americans to talk about what he would do.

“I'm not going to say anything. I don't want to tell them anything. I don't want to tell anybody anything,” he said.

Asked if he still believed he knew more than the generals, he replied: “I probably do because look at the job they've done. Okay, look at the job they've done. They haven't done the job.”

 

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