Disavow Alt-Right, Won’t Prosecute Clinton: Trump’s NYT Rapid Fire

Donald Trump agreed to sit in a room full of The New York Times journalists, and did not lose his cool.

United States President-elect Donald Trump agreed to come sit in a room full of journalists from The New York Times, and living up to expectations, it seemed like a colourful affair.

Now, the American publication and Trump have had a tumultuous relationship. NYT’s coverage of Trump’s campaign has been “rough”as he describes it.

While the meeting nearly stood cancelled at the last minute, Trump did indeed show up.

I cancelled today's meeting with the failing @nytimes when the terms and conditions of the meeting were changed at the last moment. Not nice

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016

Here are some of the interesting conversations from the event, as relayed by NYT journalists.

Trump on the 'Energising the Alt-Right'

Dean Baquet asks if Trump feels like he did things to energize the alt-right movement. “I don’t think so, Dean,” Trump replies.

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

Trump on alt-right supporters: "It's not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized I want to look into it and find out why."

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016

Trump: “I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group.” (1/2)

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

Will the President-elect condemn Richard Spencer’s alt-right gathering? “I condemn them. I disavow, and I condemn,” says Trump.

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

On Prosecuting the Clintons

“I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways."

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

Says he wants to move on and move forward. "I'm not looking to go back and go through this," Trump says.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016

"I think it would be very very divisive for the country," Trump says about prosecuting the Clintons.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016

On Climate Change

Tom Friedman asks if Trump will withdraw from climate change accords. Trump: “I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it."

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

Does Trump think human activity is linked to climate change? “I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much."

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

On climate change, Trump says he is also thinking about "how much it will cost our companies” & the effect on American competitiveness.

— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016

“I Liked President Obama a Lot,’’ Says Trump

"I had a great meeting with President Obama," Trump says, says he never met him before. "I really liked him a lot."

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016

"He said very nice things after the meeting and I saidvery nice things about him," Trump says of Obama.Says he didn't know if he'd like him.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016