President-elect Donald Trump has condemned the fringe “alt-right” group that celebrated his election victory with Nazi salutes.

In an interview with the New York Times, Donald Trump was quoted as saying: “I condemn them. I disavow, and I condemn.”

The president-elect said he did not want to “energize” the group, which includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites.

Image source Flickr

Alt-right supporters were filmed on November 19 in Washington DC cheering as a speaker shouted: “Hail Trump.”

In the video, alt-right leader Richard Spencer told a conference that America belonged to white people, whom he described as “children of the sun”.

Richard Spencer denounced the movement’s critics as “the most despicable creatures who ever walked the planet”.

“Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” he shouted at one point as some members of the audience raised their arms in the Nazi salute.

Last week’s gathering drew protesters who blocked traffic around the Ronald Reagan Building, a federally owned conference centre in the nation’s capital.

On November 22, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern that Donald Trump’s election victory could give succor to white supremacists.

A senior official close to Angela Merkel described the “Hail Trump” video as “repulsive and worrying”.