Donald Trump announced radical plans for a 'large segment' of Americans to pay a federal income tax rate of zero per cent during a '60 Minutes' interview Sunday night.

It is the first time the presidential candidate has revealed details of his tax plan, which would also cut taxes for the middle class and corporations. Interviewer Scott Pelley repeatedly challenged him on the viability of the ambitious-sounding scheme.

According to Trump, hiking taxes on Wall Street executives and abolishing tax breaks for the most well-off will pay for much of the plan, which will also restore jobs lost to China and Mexico.

In a typically brash interview, the Republican frontrunner also pledged to scrap the Obamacare medican insurance system while keeping social security afloat and increasing military spending.

Asked how he planned to pay for it all, Trump shot back: 'We're going to grow the economy so fast – if the economy grows the way it should, then we'll be able to pay for it.'

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Donald Trump has made an astonishing pledge to make a 'large segment' of Americans exempt from income tax if he becomes president

Speaking to '60 Minutes' on CBS, Trump also pledged to cut taxes for the 'decimated' middle class and corporations – which he said would be a huge boost to the economy

Probed on his tax plans, which he said would be revealed in more detail on Monday, Trump told CBS of his astonishing pledge to make some Americans pay nothing out of their earnings to the federal government.

That status would be largely reserved for 'people in the low-income brackets that are supposed to be paying taxes – many of them don't anyway,' he said

The middle class could also expect a substantial cut, he said, claiming they are being 'decimated' under the current government.

Corporate taxes, he said, would also be slashed as a way of encouraging the economy to grow.

Trump has been forced to fend off allegations that his views are often more similar to Democratic politics than Republican values in the past.

Faced with that criticism again, he responded that he is a 'pretty good' Republican, though he disagrees with traditional party values on some points.

'I will tell you this: I do have some differences,' he said. 'I don't want to have certain people on Wall Street getting away with paying no tax.'

Trump has traded on his reputation as a billionaire real estate mogul to pull ahead of his fellow Republican nominees.

Asked how he planned to convince China and Mexico to play along with handing jobs back to America, he proposed scrapping the American Free Trade Agreement and imposing taxes on foreign products.

While Trump has said he will scrap Obamacare because it is driving health insurance premiums up, he promised to keep private providers issuing policies, and ensure that social security stays afloat

He said: 'Mexico is taking our jobs, I love Mexico and I love Mexicans, but they are too smart for our current leadership.'

'Let's say Ford moves to Mexico. If they wanted to sell their cars here there will be a tax.'

When told that the Free Trade Agreement would prevent him from doing so, he suggested scrapping it altogether.

He said: 'Every agreement has to have an end. Every agreement has to be fair. What we need is fair trade, not free trade.'

Taking on China, he accused the country's leaders of not respecting President Obama, adding that 'they will respect me.'

He said: 'If they do not come to the table they are going to get a tax when they bring their products into this country.'

The Donald also repeated his promise to increase military spending, saying everything would be paid for by taking jobs back from China and Mexico using import taxes as leverage

Trump said in a blistering interview that taxes would be raised on Wall Street executives and other wealthy figures who currently have 'unfair' exemptions

Trump also repeated his controversial pledge to build a wall between Mexico and the United States, promising that it would be 'cheap' and 'effective' – and 'look nice.'

He also promised to deport the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently in America, saying that if they had 'done well' then they would be allowed back in.

He added: 'We're going to do it, and we're going to do it nicely. They're going to be happy because they want to be legalized; they want to be here legally.'

Revealing more of his personal side, Trump also talked about his relationship with his brother Fred who died of alcoholism, saying he does not touch drink or cigarettes as a result.

He said: 'He told me, "Don't drink." I never drink, despite owning the largest winery on the East Coast.'