Donald Trump rows back on Obamacare repeal promise

Donald Trump has said he would consider leaving in place certain parts of the Affordable Care Act - Obamacare - despite pledges to scrap it.

The President-elect appears to have softened his position on Barack Obama's signature 2010 health law, after meeting with the current president.

In his first interview since his election, Mr Trump said one priority was moving "quickly" on the president's health initiative, telling the Wall Street Journal it had become so unworkable and expensive that "you can't use it".

But Mr Trump also showed a willingness to preserve at least two provisions of the health care system.

He said he favours keeping the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patients' existing conditions.

And he also favours a provision that allows parents to provide years of additional coverage for children on their insurance policies.

"Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced," Mr Trump told the newspaper. 

"I told him I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that."

Mr Trump also appears to have stepped back from his threats to jail his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, telling the WSJ: "It's not something I've given a lot of thought, because I want to solve healthcare, jobs, border control, tax reform."

During his campaign, he warned he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs Clinton, repeatedly calling the FBI "rigged" after it decided not to recommend charges against her for her use of a private email server as Secretary of State.

Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Mr Trump's transition team, said he "did not discuss" the issue since his victory.

Instead, Mr Trump praised Mrs Clinton, telling 60 Minutes that she "is very strong and very smart" and that her husband Bill was "very, very, really, very nice".

He even said he might seek their advice in future, adding: "I mean, this is a very talented family. Certainly, I would certainly think about that."

But Mr Trump may find that any policy reversals risk the anger of those who voted for him.

One supporter Kathryn Stellmack, a retiree in West Palm Beach, Florida, told Reuters: "We expect him to move forward on all the items he has promised to move forward on - if he doesn't, we will hold his feet to the fire."

Another, Laura Czarniak, 56, of Michigan, said: "I know he'll build a wall (on the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration), I know he'll take care of the Syrian refugee problem, I know he'll get rid of Obamacare - there isn't a chance in hell he wont' do those things."

The highest expectations are on the issue of immigration but his promise to deport all undocumented immigrants was watered down to deporting only criminal undocumented immigrants.

His temporary ban on Muslims entering the US became "extreme vetting" of immigrants from some countries.

Meanwhile, protests against Mr Trump continued, with at least 1,200 people in New York's Washington Square carrying banners and chanting.

More than 1,000 people gathered in Miami and there are weekend protests planned in at least half a dozen other cities.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, however, said he had confidence that Mr Trump would move past the strident words that helped him reach the White House.

On Mr Trump's call for a shake-up of security alliances and a questioning of US funding of the UN, Mr Ban said: "This is what he said during the campaign period, on the campaign trail.

"Now, post-election, when he creates his transition team with experts and people with vision and expertise, I am sure the United States will continue to play a leading role."

On Mr Trump's denial of climate change, Mr Ban said: "He has made a lot of worrying statements but I am sure that he will understand the whole importance and seriousness and urgency."

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