Trump vows end to birthright citizenship and pardons for US Capitol rioters

Donald Trump also said he wants to work with Congress to help so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were shielded under an Obama-era programme, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which Trump once attempted to scrap.

“I will work with the Democrats on a plan,” he said, adding that some of these immigrants have found good jobs and started businesses.

Trump seemed to offer mixed signals on whether he would follow through on his repeated vows to seek retribution against political adversaries.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden this week issued a sweeping pardon to his criminally convicted son, Hunter. The Democrat is reported to be considering other blanket pardons for political allies before he leaves office next month.

Trump seemed to indicate that he would not seek a justice department investigation into Biden and his family, as he once vowed.

“I’m not looking to go back into the past,” he said. “I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success.”

But he also said that members of the now-defunct, Democratic-led House of Representatives committee that investigated him “should go to jail”.

Trump said he would not direct the FBI to pursue probes against his foes.

But he also said: “If they were crooked, if they did something wrong, if they have broken the law, probably.

“They went after me. You know, they went after me, and I did nothing wrong.”