Donald Trump says all world leaders will get 'an even start' with him

President-elect Donald Trump has said he will give all world leaders "an even start" when he takes up office.

The incoming president suggested he sees all world leaders on par, with a fresh chance to prove themselves, in an interview with Axios.

"So, I give everybody an even start; that right now, as far as I'm concerned, everybody's got an even start," he told the news organisation.

Mr Trump's comments come after he said he would "start off trusting both" German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a longtime US-ally, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Well, I start off trusting both — but let’s see how long that lasts," he said in an interview with The Sunday Times.

"It may not last long at all.”

During the interview, he also took aim at another key western alliance, describing Nato as "obsolete".

“I said a long time ago that Nato had problems. Number one it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago. Number two the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay."

He added: "A lot of these countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States. With that being said, Nato is very important to me."