Trump non-committal on Paris climate change agreement withdrawal

US president-elect Donald Trump said he is keeping an "open mind" on climate change and the Paris agreement which came into effect earlier this month, having previously promised to withdraw from it during his campaign.

Sources from Trump's transition team had reportedly said that the Republican was planning for a quick exit from the agreement on climate change, which he claimed was a "hoax" perpetrated by China in order to stifle US competitiveness.

However, when asked on Tuesday whether he still intended to pull out of the deal, Trump did not commit.

"I'm looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it," Trump said during an interview with the New York Times.

Trump, who will take over the Oval Office on 20 January, said he would think about the issue and how it would affect companies in the US.

He also showed less fervour for his purported investigation of election opponent Hillary Clinton, saying that he does want to do any undue harm to the Democrat or her family.

The Republican had previously said he would lead a federal investigation against Clinton over her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

"I don't want to hurt the Clintons, I really don't. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways," Trump said, but stopped short of confirming that he would not investigate her.