Ethics official denounces Trump's plan for business
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will continue to profit from his global business empire after he enters the White House this month — a precedent-breaking decision that the director of the Office of Government Ethics swiftly condemned as unpatriotic.
At a news conference announcing a much-anticipated plan for dealing with his sprawling company, Trump and his lawyer said the Trump Organization would be run by the president-elect's adult sons and a longtime company executive, although the president-elect will retain an ownership stake in a trust that holds his business assets.
The decision to stop new ventures abroad was one of Trump's few concessions to ethics experts who have warned that the real estate development and licensing company's international footprint could expose him to conflicts of interest.
The Office of Government Ethics, which advises incoming presidents and their administration officials but is not an enforcement agency, on Wednesday urged Trump to go much further to distance himself.
The business arrangements, announced at Trump Tower in New York during Trump's first news conference since July, appeared to walk back a broader promise he made last month in a Fox News interview and a tweet that the company would do "no new deals" while he is in office.
Along with Shaub — who was appointed to a five-year term by President Barack Obama in 2013 — Republican and Democratic government ethics counselors have urged Trump to take bigger steps.