Trump 'open' to climate pact

US President-elect Donald Trump yesterday said he has an open-mind about pulling out of world climate accords and admitted global warming may be in some way linked to human activity.

"I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much," he told a panel of New York Times journalists.

Asked whether he would make good on his threat to pull the United States out of UN climate accords, he said: "I'm looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it."

Trump also said he would "love" to clinch a deal to end the intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians despite the checkered history of US attempts to broker a Middle East peace.

"I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians, that would be such a great achievement," Trump said in the NYT interview.

A New York Times reporter tweeted that Trump also suggested that his son-in-law Jared Kushner could help broker a peace deal.

He also disavowed extremist alt-right movement in the NYT interview. However he defended his choice of Steve Bannon as chief strategist pushing back against suggestions that he is a far-right extremist.

On Monday, Trump outlined plans for his first day in office, including withdrawing from a major trade accord and investigating abuses of work visa programs.

Trump, who has not held a news conference since his election, issued a video on Monday evening outlining some of his plans for his first day in office, including formally declaring his intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade deal, which he called "a potential disaster for our country." He said he would replace the accord with bilaterally negotiated trade deals that would "bring jobs and industry back onto American shores."

He promised to direct the Labor Department to investigate abuses of visa programs for immigrant workers. The main US visa program for technology workers could face tough scrutiny under Trump and his proposed attorney general, US Senator Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of the program.

Trump also returned to Twitter on Monday night, saying "many people" would like to see Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as British ambassador to the United States. "He would do a great job!" But the UK government strongly rejected the suggestion.

He announced no further appointments, keeping candidates and the public guessing about the shape of the administration that will take office on Jan 20.

Meanwhile, the US has witnessed more than 700 incidents of hateful harassment since Donald Trump's election amid fears anti-Muslim hate crimes are reaching post-9/11 levels. There were 257 Anti-Islamic-motivated crimes reported in 2015, compared to 296 in 2001, according to FBI data.