Trump admits climate change 'not a hoax' but says it could 'change back'

US President Donald Trump acknowledged that climate change was not a hoax and said he does not consider ongoing trade tensions with China a "war", during a televised interview.

In an interview with CBS, Trump admitted that "I don't think it's a hoax" and that the impact of human activity had "probably" mad a difference to the climate, but said scientists investigating the issue have a “very big political agenda”.

Trump said he refuses to invest trillions of dollars to prevent climate change and be left at a disadvantage and said the change might not be lasting since it could “change back”.

"I don't wanna give trillions and trillions of dollars. I don't wanna lose millions and millions of jobs. I don't wanna be put at a disadvantage," said Trump.

In the interview, Trump also discussed the trade war and said he does not consider it a war and does not want to push China into depression.

"No no [put China in a depression], although they're down 32% in four months, which is 1929. I don't want that. I want them to negotiate a fair deal with us. I want them to open their markets like our-- our markets are open."

He also claimed that the European Union is not an ally to the US since “nobody treats us much worse than the EU”.

Trump said: "Now, I like Nato, Nato's fine. But you know what? We shouldn't be paying almost the entire cost of Nato to protect Europe. And then on top of that, they take advantage of us on trade. They're not going to do it anymore. They understand that."

On trade, Trump also said he regrets not withdrawing from Nafta sooner in his administration: “I was getting to know the leaders. I was getting to know countries. I didn't wanna do it right outta the box. So I waited a little while, but I could have done trade a little bit earlier.”

Trump also discussed the separation of immigrant children from their families, the Kavanaugh trial and Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and hidden agenda.

He admitted that he though Putin was "probably involved in assassinations" in Britain, "but I rely on them, it's not in our country," he said, referring to his belief of the evidence supplied by British authorities.