Trump brushes off differing views from Cabinet picks

NEW YORK

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday brushed off apparent contradictions between his campaign promises and statements by some of his high-profile Cabinet picks on key issues.

“All of my Cabinet nominee (sic) are looking good and doing a great job. I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!” he said on Twitter.

As his Cabinet takes shape, Trump’s appointees appear to have differences of opinions on a number of controversial matters, including U.S.-Russia ties, banning Muslim immigration and the use of torture.

Rex Tillerson, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, contradicted his would-be boss when he defined Moscow as a "danger" to the U.S. and said it was a "fair assumption" that Russian President Vladimir Putin was directly involved in an effort to influence America’s presidential election last November using cyber-attacks.

Mike Pompeo, tapped to helm the CIA, also pointed to Russia for the hacks. Separately, he told a Senate committee Thursday he would “absolutely not," bring back enhanced interrogation techniques to fight terrorism, even if Trump asked him to do it.

Meanwhile, Jeff Sessions, the attorney general candidate, voiced objection to the idea of implementing any blanket ban on Muslims entering the U.S., once a popular pledge by Trump.