Washington (CNN) Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's selection for White House chief strategist, says he's an "economic nationalist" but rejects racist and anti-Semitic elements of the nationalist alt-right movement.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal , Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, cast himself as a strident opponent of "globalism" -- including free trade deals that Trump has bemoaned.

"I'm an economic nationalist. I am an America first guy," Bannon said in the interview.

"And I have admired nationalist movements throughout the world, have said repeatedly strong nations make great neighbors. I've also said repeatedly that the ethno-nationalist movement, prominent in Europe, will change over time. I've never been a supporter of ethno-nationalism."

Bannon said that "the black working and middle class and the Hispanic working and middle class, just like whites, have been severely hurt by the policies of globalism."

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