President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would
hand off control of his business, including the management and/or licensing of
his company's 14 hotels and resorts, to his adult sons Eric and Donald Jr. when
he takes office Jan. 20.
Trump said in a press conference on Wednesday that there
would be a trust agreement in which his sons would operate his business and
that "they are not going to discuss it with me." The agreement won't
be in the form of a blind trust.
All profits from revenue generated by foreign-government
bookings at Trump's hotels will be donated to the U.S. treasury, said Sheri Dillon,
an attorney hired by Trump.
While Trump hasn't released his tax returns citing an
ongoing audit (he also said that reporters "are the only ones who care about my tax returns"), the Wall Street Journal estimated his organization's 2016
pre-tax income of $160 million. A Trump spokeswoman disputed that figure but
didn't offer further specifics.
The Trump Organization will hire an ethics adviser to judge
whether the company's transactions may create a conflict of interest or
constitutional issue, Dillon said.