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Your Guide to the Most Important Quotes From The Times’s Trump Interview with New york times

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Donald J. Trump, the president-elect, during an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday.CreditHiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Donald J. Trump sat down on Tuesday with reporters, editors and columnists of The New York Times for an exclusive interview. We have annotated portions of the interview. The full transcript is available here.

On his relationship with Obama

“I hope we can have a good — I mean, it doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything, but I hope that we will have a great long-term relationship. I really liked him a lot and I’m a little bit surprised I’m telling you that I really liked him a lot.”

The personal interactions between President Obama and Mr. Trump have so far been pleasant, but it’s not clear that the kumbaya moment will last. Mr. Obama has already indicated that he may weigh in against Mr. Trump once the new administration takes over, especially if the new president attacks Mr. Obama’s legacy achievements.

-Michael D. Shear

On his feud with The Times

“I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special. I think I’ve been treated very rough. It’s well out there that I’ve been treated extremely unfairly in a sense, in a true sense.”

Mr. Trump is working to reset his mercurial relationship with the media as he looks toward assuming office, starting with this meeting at what he branded the “failing New York Times” during his presidential campaign. But he still nurses intense grievances toward news outlets in general and The Times in particular.

-Julie Hirschfeld Davis

On helping with his business

“So I don’t have to do anything, but I want to do something if I can. If there is something.”

Mr. Trump is hinting that even though federal law does not require him to do anything specific to separate himself from his vast business empire, he is inclined to submit to some sort of voluntary standard of ethics that would avoid conflicts of interest or their appearance. But he leaves open the possibility that there may not be a way to accomplish it.

-Julie Hirschfeld Davis

On conflicts of interest

“As far as the, you know, potential conflict of interests, though, I mean I know that from the standpoint, the law is totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest. That’s been reported very widely. Despite that, I don’t want there to be a conflict of interest anyway.”

Mr. Trump is correct that federal law, for the most part, exempts the President from conflict of interest rules, meaning he is allowed to take actions that could benefit his financial holdings. But in modern times, most presidents have voluntarily put their financial assets into blind trusts. Mr. Trump has said he does not intend to take such a step, instead will turn his companies over to his children.

-Eric Lipton

Mr. Trump in the lobby of The Times’ building in Manhattan after the interview. CreditTodd Heisler/The New York Times

On liquidating assets

“Selling real estate is much different, it’s in a much different world. I’d say this, and I mean this and I said it on ‘60 Minutes’ the other night: My company is so unimportant to me relative to what I’m doing, ’cause I don’t need money, I don’t need anything, and by the way, I’m very under-leveraged, I have a very small percentage of my money in debt.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial board, among others, has suggested that the only solution to Mr. Trump’s potential conflicts of interest is to sell off all of his assets, and then have a blind trust reinvest the proceeds. Mr. Trump suggests that this is not practical.

-Eric Lipton

On the Clinton investigation

“I don’t think they will be disappointed. I think I will explain it, that we have to, in many ways save our country.”

Mr. Trump’s crowds at rallies frequently targeted Hillary Clinton, chanting “Lock her up!” and referring to her as a criminal. In July, Mr. Trump himself encouraged a crowd in Colorado, telling them “I’m starting to agree with you” as they chanted “Lock her up!” In addition, despite Mr. Trump’s remarks here, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, which have investigated Mrs. Clinton’s email server and the Clinton Foundation, conduct criminal inquiries largely independently of the White House. A president attempting to intervene in those kinds of inquiries, in any direction, would be a major scandal.

-Carolyn Ryan

On the alt-right movement

“I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group.”

Mr. Trump has been criticized for not specifically denouncing bigotry and groups that spread bigoted views. His statements about such conduct tend to be vague, including here, when he says “I disavow the group.” That nonspecific language has been comforting to leaders of the alt-right, a rebranded white nationalist movement, including Richard B. Spencer, who led a gathering at a federal building near the White House last weekend that included some audience members offering a Nazi salute.

-Carolyn Ryan

On the family brand

The brand is certainly a hotter brand than it was before. I can’t help that, but I don’t care. I said on ‘60 Minutes’: I don’t care. Because it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters to me is running our country.”

Mr. Trump here acknowledges, perhaps for the first time, that being president will perhaps help enrich his family. He also concedes that the arrangement might fairly be called a conflict of interest.

-Eric Lipton

On torture

“It’s not going to make the kind of a difference that maybe a lot of people think. If it’s so important to the American people, I would go for it. I would be guided by that. But General Mattis found it to be very less important, much less important than I thought he would say. I thought he would say — you know he’s known as Mad Dog Mattis, right? Mad Dog for a reason. I thought he’d say ‘It’s phenomenal, don’t lose it.’ He actually said, ‘No, give me some cigarettes and some drinks, and we’ll do better.’”

Back in February, when he was still a candidate, Mr. Trump said definitively that torture was effective. “Don’t tell me it doesn’t work — torture works,” he told an audience in South Carolina. “O.K., folks? Torture, you know, half these guys: ‘Torture doesn’t work.’ Believe me, it works. O.K.?”

So Mr. Trump’s answer on Tuesday offered a revealing insight into his willingness to shift or rethink a position, especially after talking with someone he respects. Gen. James N. Mattis may well be Mr. Trump’s secretary of defense, and his rejection of torture clearly had an effect on the president-elect.

Michael D. Shear

On factory jobs

“You have to understand, our companies are noncompetitive right now. They’re really largely noncompetitive. About four weeks ago, I started adding a certain little sentence into a lot of my speeches, that we’ve lost 70,000 factories since W. Bush. 70,000. When I first looked at the number, I said: ‘That must be a typo. It can’t be 70, you can’t have 70,000, you wouldn’t think you have 70,000 factories here.’ And it wasn’t a typo, it’s right. We’ve lost 70,000 factories.”

The reality is more complicated. The number of factories and the number of Americans who work in factories both have declined sharply in recent decades. But the nation’s manufacturing output is at the highest level in history. The labor-intensive production of low-value goods, like socks, has been replaced by the largely automated production of high-value goods, like circuits.

-Binyamin Appelbaum

On immigration

“You know, you’ve been talking about immigration bills for 50 years and nothing’s ever happened.”

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed a landmark law that prohibited the hiring of illegal immigrants, provided new resources for enforcement along the Mexican border and offered legal status to several million illegal immigrants. Experts say the law did little to slow migration to the United States, but made crossing the border more difficult and dangerous.

-Robert Pear

On health care

“’Cause health care is — you know people are paying a 100 percent increase and they’re not even getting anything, the deductibles are so high, you have deductibles $16,000. So they’re paying all of this money and they don’t even get health care.”

Premiums for many health plans under the Affordable Care Act are increasing 20 percent to 40 percent or more, but increases of 100 percent are extremely rare. Deductibles for many plans are high, but not $16,000. For a family plan in 2017, the maximum out-of-pocket cost, including the deductible, is $14,300.

-Robert Pear

On party unity

“Right now they’re in love with me. O.K.? Four weeks ago they weren’t in love with me.”

Mr. Trump’s comments about his fellow Republicans had a sharp edge and an implicit message: They owe their congressional majority to him, and he expects to be treated accordingly. Whether this is true, and to what extent, will be one of the pivotal stories of the new Trump administration, and crucial to figuring out how much or how little he can get done. He needs Congress to achieve many of the campaign promises he made, including the deep tax cut and large infrastructure spending package, not to mention — and it is an open question how “in love” with his policies Republicans will prove to be.

-Julie Hirschfeld Davis

On achieving peace in the Middle East

“The president of the United States is allowed to have whatever conflicts he wants — he or she wants. But I don’t want to go by that. Jared’s a very smart guy. He’s a very good guy. The people that know him, he’s a quality person and I think he can be very helpful. I would love to be able to be the one that made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. I would love that, that would be such a great achievement. Because nobody’s been able to do it.”

Mr. Trump suggests here that he may name Jared Kushner, his son-in-law,as a special envoy to the Middle East, charged with making peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Buried in this answer is an assertion by Mr. Trump that the federal government’s anti-nepotism law does not apply to him as president, but he also says he would want to avoid the appearance of conflict. Installing Mr. Kushner as a special envoy could have that effect, essentially giving him an important task that would allow him to be involved in high-level national security deliberations without hiring him outright. This is a role that was often discussed as a potential landing spot for Bill Clinton if Mrs. Clinton had won the White House.

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Supreme court nullifies enforcement of National Lottery Act in 36 states

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The supreme court has nullified the enforcement of provisions of the National Lottery Act 2005 in the 36 states of the federation.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, the seven-member panel held that the national assembly lacks the powers to legislate on issues pertaining to lottery and gaming.

In March 2005, former President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the national lottery bill into law.

The legislation provides the framework for the operation of the national lottery and the establishment of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission.

The commission is charged with regulating the business of lottery in Nigeria as well as establishing the national lottery trust fund.

In 2008, the Lagos state government filed a suit against the federal government on whether the control and regulation of gaming and lottery businesses in each state is under the exclusive list.

In October 2020, the Ekiti government joined Lagos as co-plaintiff in the suit.

In November 2022, the supreme court joined 33 state governments as co-defendants in the suit.

In the judgment, the apex court ruled that only state assemblies have the powers to legislate on lottery and gaming businesses.

The supreme court ruled that legislation cannot be enforced in all states, except the federal capital territory (FCT), since the national assembly is empowered to make laws for the country’s capital.

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NASS amends NDLEA Act, okays life imprisonment for drug traffickers

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The Senate has concurred with the recommendation of the House of Representatives to commute the death sentence penalty for persons found guilty of storing, moving or concealing hard drugs and other illicit substances to life imprisonment.

The alignment of the Senate with the House of Representatives yesterday was a sequel to the amendment effected on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act.

The amendment was considered at the plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, APC! Kano North, after majority of senators supported the harmonisation of the conference committee of the two chambers of the National Assembly on Section 11 of the NDLEA Act.

Recall that recently, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the NDLEA law to prescribe life imprisonment for drug traffickers but the Senate version of the amendment prescribed death penalty for the offenders.

In order to address the differences, both the Senate and the House of Representatives needed to hold a conference committee on the amendment where they will conclude on a final amendment to the section.

The then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Tahir Monguno, had told his colleagues that the Senate would adopt the amendment of the House prescribing life imprisonment for drug traffickers.

Monguno, who is the chairman of the conference committee, explained that if the National Assembly adopted the death sentence, it meant over 900 accused persons behind bar on drug related cases would be executed.

He, therefore, urged his colleagues to support the resolution in order to reduce the effect of drug consumption and trading in the country.

After the presentation, the Deputy Senate President put the resolution to a vote and majority of the senators supported it.

Senator Barau, thereafter, approved the amendments to include life imprisonment for drug traffickers.

With the amendment, the section now reads: “Anybody who is unlawfully involved in the storage, custody, movement, carriage or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and who, while so involved is armed with any offensive weapon or is disguised in anyway, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act, and liable on conviction to be sentenced to life imprisonment.”

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‘He was never our member’ — IPOB disowns Simon Ekpa

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The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) says Simon Ekpa, the controversial Biafra agitator, was never a member of the group.

IPOB said Ekpa was not a registered member of the group’s chapter in Finland and cannot be the leader of the group.

On Thursday, Ekpa, a Finland-based secessionist, was arrested by law enforcement agents in the northern European nation.

He was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.

Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.

In a statement on Friday, Emma Powerful, IPOB’s spokesperson, said Ekpa was a “destructive agent” paid to “infiltrate and destroy” the “peaceful movement” of IPOB.

Powerful accused the Nigerian and Finnish governments of shielding Ekpa from arrest.

“Simon Ekpa was never and is not an IPOB member, let alone being a leader in IPOB. IPOB has some family units in Finland, and Simon Ekpa is not a registered member of any IPOB unit in Finland or any other IPOB unit globally,” the statement reads.

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu established IPOB as a peaceful movement to seek Biafra Independence via a supervised UN referendum.

“IPOB is a peaceful global movement that has never taken to violence or arms struggle in two decades of our self-determination struggle.

“It was unfortunate that some innocent Biafrans, being passionate for the restoration of the stolen sovereignty of the Biafran Nation, thought that Simon Ekpa was genuinely sympathetic to the Biafra cause.

“Sadly, they had to learn the hard way that he was a destructive agent paid to infiltrate and destroy the IPOB peaceful movement for Biafra self-determination. He recruited violent criminals to destabilize the South East Region in 2021.

“The Simon Ekpa-led group has no alliance, affiliation or relationship with IPOB family worldwide. He recruited his criminal gangs who have been terrorising the Biafran territory since 2021.

“The Nigerian government and politicians that contracted Simon Ekpa have been making strenuous efforts to tag the violent crimes of their agent on IPOB just to blackmail and demonise the genuine and peaceful Biafra self-determination struggle of the Biafran people led by the IPOB.

“On the purported arrest of Simon Ekpa, all IPOB members, Biafrans and lovers of Biafra freedom should remain calm and focused on our core objective which is the restoration of the sovereign state of Biafra.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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