Trump Business Will Pursue U.S. Deals, But Not Foreign Ones

NEW YORK (AP) —
Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr., on Fox News last February. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Donald Trump’s business will continue to pursue deals in the United States, though not abroad, while he is president, and he will relinquish control of the company, according to a lawyer who worked with the Trump Organization on the plan.

Trump will put his business assets in a trust and take other steps to isolate himself from his company, said the lawyer, who spoke to reporters before Trump’s first news conference since his election Nov. 8. The lawyer requested anonymity to discuss details of the plan.

The move appears to contradict a previous pledge by Trump, who pledged in a tweet last month to do “no new deals” while in office.

To help allay concerns about conflicts of interest, Trump will hand managerial control of his company to his two adult sons and a longtime business executive. The lawyer who advised Trump also said that the Trump Organization will appoint an ethics adviser to its management team who must approve deals that could raise concerns about conflicts.

The plan falls short of what some government ethics experts have been urging Trump to do: sell his assets and put the cash in a blind trust overseen by an independent manager, as many recent presidents have done.

Others have said that is impractical given that selling real estate takes time and the sprawling nature of his business.

Trump has stakes in 500 companies in about 20 countries.

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