Donald Trump and Mike Pence's first joint interview reveals political differences between Republican pair

Presumed Republican presidential candidate chose Mike Pence to run with him, despite only having known him a few months

Stark political differences between US presidential candidate Donald Trump and running mate Mike Pence became clear on Sunday, as their first joint interview revealed contrasting views on key issues, including immigration, trade and the Iraq war.

Mr Trump announced his choice of running mate on Friday via Twitter – the first time a potential vice president has been announced via social media – and confirmed his decision at a press conference.

Though the Indiana governor stated he “couldn’t be more honoured” to have been given the opportunity to run for vice president, an interview broadcast on CBS highlighted personal and political variances between himself and Trump, who have only known each other few months.

Mr Pence, who endorsed Ted Cruz during Indiana primaries, voted for the Iraq war that Mr Trump has denounced, has slammed border controls endorsed by Mr Trump’s ‘unconstitutional’ and has voted for “every trade deal put in front of him”, including NAFTA, which Mr Trump has called “a disaster.”

Dominating the interview, Mr Trump insisted that he and Mr Pence got along, and that he was impressed by Mr Pence’s work in Indiana.

Despite often citing Hillary Clinton's endorsement of the Iraq War as a mark of her “bad judgement”, Mr Trump said he “didn’t care” that his potential vice president voted the same way.

“He’s entitled to make a mistake every once in a while… She’s not,” he said.

Throughout the interview, Mr Pence claimed to endorse several of Mr Trump’s views that he has previously disagreed with, and insisted that he had confidence in the presumed Republican presidential candidate.

The governor claimed to agree with Mr Trump’s plan to suspend Muslims from coming into the US, alluding to the suspension of the Syrian refugee program in Indiana.

However, in December, Mr Pence said on Twitter: “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the US are offensive and unconstitutional.”

Despite prompting from the interviewer, Mr Pence would not say anything about the tweet, and continued to insist that he and Mr Trump were on the same page.

“You just asked me if I’m comfortable with [restricting borders], and I am,” he said.

Perhaps one of the most extreme contrasts between Mr Trump and his running mate is their position on free trade.

When in congress, Mr Pence voted in favour of every trade agreement, including NAFTA (the North American Free Trade agreement), and supports the trans-pacific partnership that Mr Trump has said would “rape” the country.

“I’m all for free trade, I’m not an isolationist,” Mr Trump insisted, but went on to say that NAFTA, which Mr Pence has supported, was “one of the worst things that ever happened to this country in terms of trade and economics.”

“What I hear Donald Trump saying,” Mr Pence said “Is ‘let’s look at these trade agreements and reconsider them and renegotiate them’”.

When asked if he is comfortable with bringing back waterboarding, which Mr Trump has said that he wishes to reintroduce, Mr Pence pointedly avoided the question.

“I don’t think we should ever tell our enemy what our tactics are,” is his response.

“I think enhanced interrogation saved lives.”

When asked if he was okay with the use of these tactics, Mr Pence said: “What I’m okay with is protecting the American people.”

Both Donald Trump and Mike Pence will be appearing at the 2016 GOP convention in Cleveland this week.

Mr Trump has said that he trusts the police to prevent violence taking place: “The police like Donald Trump,” he said.