(CNN) President-elect Donald Trump brushed aside his campaign promises to jail Hillary Clinton, batted away questions about conflicts of interest over his business empire and denounced the neo-Nazi movement that is celebrating his victory.
Answering questions for just the second time since his election, Trump met for 75 minutes on Tuesday with reporters, editors and columnists from The New York Times.
It wasn't broadcast live, but some Times reporters tweeted Trump's remarks in real time. And, since Trump has not held a news conference since his upset win two weeks ago, the entire political world was glued to Twitter through it all.
Here are six takeaways from Trump's meeting with the Times:
The grudges Trump is still holding
In transition: President-elect Trump
President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III
after they met at Trump Tower in New York on Monday, January 16. Afterward, King said the meeting was "constructive" and that the two discussed the importance of voting accessibility. Trump didn't speak to the media about the meeting.
Trump speaks at Trump Tower in New York on Wednesday, January 11. In
his first news conference since winning the election, a combative Trump made clear he will not mute his style when he is inaugurated on January 20. He lashed out at media and political foes alike.
US Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, is sworn in during
his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday, January 10. Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling high-level positions for the new administration.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, arrives on Capitol Hill for a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday, January 9. Kushner, a 35-year-old businessman-turned-political strategist,
will be senior adviser to the president, a senior transition official told CNN.
Trump gets on an elevator after speaking with reporters at New York's Trump Tower on January 9.
Trump stands with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma, Asia's richest man, as they walk to speak with reporters at Trump Tower on January 9. Ma met with Trump to
tease plans for creating "one million" jobs in the United States. Trump praised Ma after the meeting as a "great, great entrepreneur and one of the best in the world."
Trump stands with legendary boxing promoter Don King after meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, December 28. Trump and King
met to discuss the relationship between Israel and the United States.
Trump attends a meeting with Steve Bannon, chief White House strategist and senior counselor, at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, December 21. Trump
spent the holidays in Mar-a-Lago.
Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway talks to the press in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday, December 15. Conway, who was Trump's campaign manager,
will work in his administration as "counselor to the president," it was announced on Thursday, December 22.
Trump
meets with technology executives in New York on Wednesday, December 14. From left are Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon; Larry Page, chief executive officer of Google's parent company Alphabet; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The three main areas discussed were jobs, immigration and China, according to a source briefed on the meeting.
Three of Trump's children -- from left, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric -- attend the meeting with tech leaders on December 14.
Trump, Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan wave during an event in West Allis, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, December 13. "He's like a fine wine," Trump said of Ryan at
the rally, which was part of his "thank you" tour to states that helped him win the election. "Every day that goes by, I get to appreciate his genius more and more."
Trump and rapper Kanye West speak to the press after
meeting at Trump Tower in New York on December 13. Trump called West a "good man" and told journalists that they have been "friends for a long time." West later tweeted that he met with Trump to discuss "multicultural issues."
Trump
selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, to be his nominee for energy secretary, which would make Perry the head of an agency he once suggested he would eliminate.
Trump has tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson
to serve as secretary of state, the transition team announced December 13. Tillerson, seen here at a conference in 2015, has no formal foreign-policy experience, but he has built close relationships with many world leaders by closing massive deals across Eurasia and the Middle East on behalf of the world's largest energy company.
Trump waves during the Army-Navy football game, which was played in Baltimore on Saturday, December 10.
Trump shakes hands with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad at an event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, December 8. Trump
re-introduced Branstad as his pick for US ambassador to China.
Trump greets retired Marine Gen. James Mattis at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Tuesday, December 6. Trump said
he would nominate Mattis as his defense secretary.
Trump speaks to members of the media at Trump Tower in New York on December 6.
Trump visits the Carrier air-conditioning company in Indianapolis on Thursday, December 1.
Carrier announced that it had reached a deal with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is currently governor of Indiana, to keep about 1,000 of 1,400 jobs at its Indianapolis plant rather than move them to Mexico. The Carrier plant had been a theme of Trump's campaign promise to prevent more jobs from being outsourced to other countries.
Trump and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
share a meal in New York on Tuesday, November 29. Romney was reportedly in the running for secretary of state.
Trump waves to a crowd at The New York Times building after meeting with some of the newspaper's reporters, editors and columnists on Tuesday, November 22.
Six takeaways from the meeting
Trump is flanked by Pence and Romney after a meeting in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, on Saturday, November 19.
"60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl
interviews Trump and his family at his New York home on Friday, November 11. It was Trump's first television interview since the election.
House Speaker Paul Ryan shows Trump and his wife, Melania, the Speaker's Balcony at the US Capitol on Thursday, November 10.
Trump walks with his wife and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after a meeting at the US Capitol on November 10.
Trump shakes hands with President Barack Obama following
a meeting in the Oval Office on November 10. Obama told his successor that he wanted him to succeed and would do everything he could to ensure a smooth transition.
Trump delivers his acceptance speech during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Wednesday, November 9.
The President-elect was downright magnanimous toward his longtime Democratic foes.
About his campaign promise to jail Hillary Clinton, Trump said he doesn't want to "hurt the Clintons" and that doing so would be "very, very divisive for the country."
He heaped praise on President Barack Obama, saying he appreciated Obama's handling of the transition of power and liked him personally. "I didn't know if I'd like him. I probably thought that maybe I wouldn't, but I did. I really enjoyed him a lot," Trump said.
And of New York's Chuck Schumer, the new Senate Democratic leader: "I've liked Chuck Schumer for a long time."
So it's not the opposition that still gets under Trump's skin.
It's his fellow Republicans -- particularly those who ran away from him in the general election.
Trump bragged that he "helped numerous senators" win, and took a shot New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican who narrowly lost after distancing herself from Trump. "No, thank you," he said he told Ayotte about a post in Trump's Cabinet.
He also mocked Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, a Republican who lost his Senate race after similarly staying far away from Trump. Heck, he said, fell "like a lead balloon."
Trump was also cautious about the Republican congressional leaders -- House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"Right now they're in love with me," Trump said. "Four weeks ago, they weren't in love with me."
A Nixonian conflict-of-interest view
Trump brushed aside questions about how his actions in the White House could benefit his businesses with a startling declaration.
"The law's totally on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest," Trump said.
It was reminiscent of Richard Nixon's comment to journalist David Frost that by definition, a president's actions don't violate the law. "Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal," Nixon said.
Trump acknowledged his businesses will benefit from his victory, saying his new hotel in Washington is "probably a more valuable asset than it was before" and that its brand is "hotter."
But he said he's no longer interested in his businesses and will be passing them on to his children.
"I don't care about having anything to do" with anything outside the United States' best interests, he said. "I don't want to influence anything."
A new view on climate change?
On the campaign trail, Trump had pledged to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accords -- a move that would upend global efforts to address global warming.
Tuesday, he wasn't as specific.
"I'm looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it," he said.
It was part of a broader change for the President-elect on the topic of climate science. He had previously rejected scientists' conclusion that humans have played a role in the earth's warming. But on Tuesday, Trump said that "I think there is some connectivity" between humans and climate change, although he declined to elaborate.
Trump's white supremacist disavowal
Donald Trump's rise
President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.
Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.
Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.
Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.
Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.
Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
The Trump family, circa 1986.
Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.
Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.
Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump
has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."
Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.
Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.
Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."
A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.
Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate.
Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.
Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.
Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.
For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.
Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.
Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.
In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.
Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.
Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.
The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.
Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.
Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."
Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize,"
Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.
Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.
Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.
Days after the white supremacist movement, known as the "alt-right," gathered in Washington to celebrate Trump's victory, the President-elect said he wants nothing to do with them.
"I don't want to energize the group, and I disavow the group," he told the Times. "It's not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why."
Also notable is what Trump didn't do: He didn't condemn the white supremacist groups like the National Policy Institute, which led the weekend gathering, by name -- something that's noticed every time Trump personally takes the time to slam the cast of "Hamilton" or wade into other feuds on his Twitter account.
Trump also took flak recently after he tapped his campaign CEO Steve Bannon to be one of his top two advisers in the White House. Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, touted the website as "the platform for the alt-right." Bannon rejected the anti-Semitic and racist elements of the alt-right in an interview with the Wall Street Journal this week and declared himself an "economic nationalist."
Trump defended Bannon in his New York Times meeting, saying that he's known him for "a long time" and that the allegations of anti-Semitism and connections to the alt-right are "not him."
"If I thought he was racist, or 'alt-right' ... I wouldn't even think about hiring him," Trump said Tuesday.
Kushner the peace-maker?
Trump laid out some lofty foreign policy ambitions.
"I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. That would be such a great achievement," he said, referring to a conflict that has vexed presidents for decades.
How is Trump going to do that?
It's not clear -- and Trump showed just how limited his foreign policy knowledge is when he suggested his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, could help make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump's approach to foreign policy remains an open question. He did tell the Times, "I don't think we should be a nation-builder" -- an implicit shot at the American military's role in the Iraq War.
He also said "we have to end that craziness that's going on in Syria," adding that he has a "different view than everybody else" of that conflict -- without explaining that view.
What an age we live in
Trump hasn't held a news conference in the 14 days since he won the election -- the longest period of silence from a president-elect in decades.
So when he met with The New York Times, the entire political world was watching. But not on screen -- the meeting wasn't live-streamed or televised.
Instead, the news came 140 characters at a time from the Twitter accounts of Times reporters like Maggie Haberman, Mike Grynbaum and Julie Davis, who were posting the President-elect's remarks live.
Those tweets were being shown on-screen as cable news networks covered the developments, with no audio and no video of Trump -- just tweets containing his remarks. Perhaps fitting for a candidate and President-elect who regularly makes news or causes controversy 140 characters at a time from his phone.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.