Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump walk through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (Associated Press) 
 
 Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump walk through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly every morning since their father's stunning victory on Election Day, three of Donald Trump's grown children walk through the Trump Tower lobby and board an elevator. But are Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric going to the campaign office on the fifth floor? Their business offices on the 25th floor? The president-elect's penthouse on the 56th floor? 
 
 That uncertainty highlights the multiple roles the children play for their father. For the past year, the lines were constantly blurred between political campaign and business empire, raising questions about a possible conflict of interest between Trump's White House and his sprawling business interests. 
 
 The children are poised to wield incredible influence over their father, even if they don't follow him to Washington. Trump said consistently during the campaign that if he won, those children would stay in New York and run his business. But the three — plus Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner — were all named to the transition team's executive committee. 
 
 So far, they've been heavily involved in shaping the new administration. They've sat in on meetings and taken late night calls from their father. They advocated for making Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, the White House chief of staff. They counseled against bringing back Corey Lewandowski, Trump's first campaign manager, who was fired in June on their advice. 
 
 On Thursday, Ivanka Trump and Kushner were present for the president-elect's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump Tower. 
 
 Trump has insisted he will build a wall between his White House and his company by placing his holdings into a blind trust, but with his children as its trustees. Federal requirements are that independent outsiders run such trusts. 
 
 "We are in the process of vetting various structures with the goal of the immediate transfer of management of The Trump Organization and its portfolio of businesses to Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump as well as a team of highly skilled executives," Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said. She said the structure "will comply with all applicable rules and regulations." 
 
 Trump's company would be the largest business portfolio to belong to a modern sitting president. Federal ethics rules would allow Trump to run his business interests from the White House, or, perhaps more likely, influence decisions made by his children. 
 
 That raises conflict of interest concerns. For example, Trump could set domestic policy while making deals abroad that could affect his corporation, even if it were technically in his children's hands. 
 
 Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser, disputed the idea that the Trump children's involvement in the transition could lead to a breach of trust. 
 
 "You're presuming that they are doing certain things that they should not be doing," Conway said. "They are his children. And they've been his business colleagues for a long period of time. They obviously will support their father as president." 
 
 But the potentially problematic entanglement revealed itself this past week when Ivanka Trump's company promoted a $10,800 bracelet she wore during a "60 Minutes" interview on CBS. The spokeswoman for the company later apologized. 
 
 The children — they were not made available for interviews — are limited in what formal role they could take in a Trump administration. 
 
 Congress passed an anti-nepotism law in 1967 that prohibits the president from appointing a family member to work in the office or agency they oversee. The measure was passed as a reaction to President John F. Kennedy appointing his brother Robert as attorney general. 
 
 But the law does not appear to prevent the children — or Kushner, who is one of Trump's closest aides and is said to be weighing a White House role — from serving as unpaid advisers or providing informal counsel. 
 
 The three grown children — their mother is Ivana Trump, Trump's first wife — delivered well-received speeches at this summer's Republican National Convention in which they tried to humanize their father. 
 
 Don Jr. and Eric were staples on conservative radio and on the road, trekking to campaign offices and small rallies across battleground states like Ohio and North Carolina. Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, was utilized in some of the campaign's biggest moments, including introducing her father before his convention speech, unveiling his family leave plan and campaigning across the crucial Philadelphia suburbs. 
 
 Another daughter, Tiffany Trump, a recent college graduate whose mother is Trump's second wife, Marla Maples, also made appearances on her father's behalf. Trump's youngest child, 10-year-old Barron, whose mother is the president-elect's current wife, Melania, is enrolled at a private Manhattan school. Trump on Sunday told reporters that Mrs. Trump and their son will move to Washington after the school year ends. 
 
 For the three eldest Trump kids, there were bumps in the road. 
 
 Eric and Ivanka were the subject of some embarrassing headlines when it was revealed that they were not registered to vote in time for their father in the New York primary. An African big-game safari Eric and Don Jr. took drew criticism from animal rights activists. And Don Jr. has received criticism for tweeting images likening Syrian refugees to a poisoned bowl of Skittles candy and a cartoon character appropriated by white supremacists. 
 
 But now they stand poised to be the most influential presidential children in decades, as recent White House offspring have been far younger than the eldest Trump children, who are all in their 30s. During the campaign, Eric Trump insisted that the children's main focus "was the company," but "we'd always be one phone call away" if needed, the younger Trump told The Associated Press in May. "We'd do anything for the man." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Reach Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire ||||| Bloomberg Politics’ Ben Brody discusses President-Elect Donald Trump’s plan to leave his sons Donald Jr. and Eric in charge of his businesses. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets.” (Source: Bloomberg) 
 
 President-elect Donald Trump gave his first clues as to how he’ll step away from his businesses, saying he would put his two sons Don and Eric in charge by Inauguration Day Jan. 20 but offering no information about his own role. 
 
 In a series of tweets late Monday night, Trump said he would make no new business deals during his time in the White House. The tweets came on the same day Bloomberg first reported he was postponing a Dec. 15 news conference to announce his business plan. He will instead make an announcement sometime next month before his inauguration, according to transition officials familiar with the deliberations. 
 
 He also promised he would hold a press conference "in the near future to discuss the business, Cabinet picks and all other topics of interest. Busy times!" 
 
 Trump had planned to make the announcement this week but wants more time because he’s been occupied with filling out his cabinet and top administration posts, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. 
 
 The president-elect has consulted various legal specialists as well as Don McGahn, his pick for White House counsel, about how to deal with his organization, the officials said. A new date for the announcement hasn’t been set, but it will be before his inauguration on Jan. 20, they said. 
 
 "Even though I am not mandated by law to do so, I will be leaving my busineses before January 20th so that I can focus full time on the Presidency," Trump said on Twitter Monday night. "Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them. No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office." 
 
 Trump’s latest tweets did not mention what role his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner might play in either his administration or his businesses. Kushner is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers; and accompanied Trump on his post-election visit to the White House and spoke with President Barack Obama’s aides. The couple has been house hunting in Washington, CNN reported Dec. 5. 
 
 Bipartisan Concern 
 
 Trump has about $3.6 billion of assets and $630 million of debt held in more than 500 companies, according to a July analysis by Bloomberg. His golf developments, tenant rosters, loans and licensing arrangements tie him to businesses and governments in 20 countries. Those ties risk hobbling his presidency with questions about motives for his policy and may raise constitutional issues. 
 
 His businesses have been the subject of bipartisan concern since winning the election, and on Nov. 30 he said via Twitter that he would have a news conference Dec. 15 to announce his plans for dealing with potential conflicts of interest. 
 
 The president-elect tweeted that he would be leaving his business “in total” to focus on the White House. He added that “legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations,” suggesting he might not be participating in day-to-day to decisions but also didn’t necessarily suggest he was planning a sale. 
 
 Among those who’ve called on him to sell his companies to avoid conflicts are the ethics lawyers for the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. Trump’s refusal to release his tax return has also added to concerns about his commitment to transparency. His next personal financial disclosure, a less detailed document, isn’t due until after he takes office. 
 
 Trump’s Conflict-of-Interest Worries: QuickTake Q&A 
 
 Trump said in an interview with the New York Times last month that sitting presidents “can’t have a conflict of interest” because the laws don’t apply. While they are exempt from many government ethics laws, some do apply, as does a constitutional prohibition on income and gifts from foreign governments. 
 
 Even transferring ownership to his adult children is unlikely to quiet Trump’s critics. Norman Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy group in Washington, has said that Trump has a self-interest in enriching his children. Brad Malt, a partner at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston, who managed Mitt Romney’s blind trusts during his time as Massachusetts governor, has said that Trump must sell. 
 
 Already, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, an executive in his organization, sat in on her father’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and participated in a phone call with Argentine President Mauricio Macri. Two other children, Don Jr. and Eric, also are Trump Organization executives who also have acted as informal advisers to their father throughout his run and the transition. 
 
 Trump has also met with Indian business partners since Election Day, and his partner in the Philippines was in Trump Tower while he was talking with potential appointees. The lease for his hotel in Washington appears to bar elected officials from profiting from the arrangement. 
 
 Trump’s transition team said Dec. 6 that the president-elect had sold all his stock holdings in June, though it gave no details. Trump said the stock ownership was “a conflict of interest.” 
 
 Wide Holdings 
 
 Trump has a variety of business interests beyond the real estate and licensing deals for which he’s best know. For example, he’ll remain an executive producer on the upcoming season of “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” the reality show in which he once starred. The show is broadcast on Comcast Corp.’s NBC, which is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, whose leaders are political appointees. Trump has said he won’t spend any time working on the show, though he’ll be paid and get credited. 
 
 Estate planners say there are several structures Trump could use to create formal distance between himself and his companies while keeping them in the family. The president-elect could put his businesses into a limited-liability company and sell it to a trust for his children in exchange for a promissory note that would ensure him regular interest payments, said David Scott Sloan, co-chairman of Holland & Knight LLP’s national private-wealth practice. Alternatively, a bank could finance the deal by paying Trump cash and receiving the payments in his stead. 
 
 That wouldn’t solve concerns that Trump would work to benefit his children, or concerns that he’d talk to them about the business. For that latter problem, the family could appoint an independent trustee charged with enforcing strict confidentiality rules, said John Olivieri, a partner at White & Case LLP in New York. 
 
 Get the latest on global politics in your inbox, every day. Get our newsletter daily. 
 
 Previous U.S. presidents and vice presidents have also grappled with how to deal with potential conflicts. Dick Cheney sold his shares in Halliburton Co., where he’d served as chairman and chief executive officer, prior to taking office. Jimmy Carter sold his family peanut farm in Georgia. Nelson Rockefeller subjected himself to congressional hearings and to investigation by 400 agents from agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. 
 
 A Bloomberg National Poll conducted Dec. 2-5 found that two-thirds of U.S. adults think Trump needs to choose between being president or a businessman. But slightly more -- 69 percent -- believe it goes too far to force him and his family to sell their business empire to avoid conflicts of interest. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Trump will put his sons in charge, but some critics argue this is not enough 
 
 Donald Trump has said his sons will run his businesses during his presidency but there will be "no new deals". 
 
 He tweeted he would "hold a news conference in the near future", after delaying an announcement on how to handle his business interests. 
 
 The US president-elect had been due to hold a rare press conference on the matter on Thursday. 
 
 Mr Trump also said that he would make an announcement about his choice for secretary of state on Tuesday. 
 
 On his Twitter account, Mr Trump said that, although he was not mandated by law to do so, he would leave his businesses before 20 January, when he will be inaugurated president. 
 
 "Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them," he tweeted. "No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office." 
 
 No mention has been made of the role of Mr Trump's high-profile daughter, Ivanka, fuelling speculation that she might have a role in his administration. 
 
 Risk of impeachment - John Mervin, BBC News, New York 
 
 If Mr Trump retains ownership, or just some financial interest in his business, then the threat of a constitutional crisis looms over his presidency. His insistence that there's no law which forces the president to be free of business interests doesn't only ignore decades, even centuries of convention. It's also an explicit disavowal of the constitution itself. 
 
 The US federal government's founding document specifically prohibits US office holders from receiving presents or emoluments (defined as "the returns arising from office or employment" - ie payment) from foreign governments. 
 
 It's hard to see how even the most straightforward of business transactions between the Trump organisation and an overseas company wouldn't threaten to put President Trump in breach of that clause. Commentators and political rivals have raised this problem time and again, first during Trump's campaign, but in particular since his stunning victory. 
 
 That he still won't address it head on suggests either that he's still seeking a way of reconciling his business interests with his presidential obligations - and will unveil it later. 
 
 Or that he intends to run the risk of congress one day deciding that his conflicts of interest are so great that he has to be impeached. 
 
 Image copyright Twitter 
 
 Mr Trump's transition team spokesman, Sean Spicer, said Thursday's press conference had been postponed to make sure "proper protocols are put in place". 
 
 "With so many iconic properties and successful entities, moving the announcement to January ensures the legal team has ample time to ensure the proper protocols are put in place so his sole focus will remain on the country and achieving his ambitious agenda with the help of the world-class cabinet he has built," Mr Spicer wrote in an email statement to Associated Press. 
 
 Critics have said Mr Trump runs many businesses which all present possible conflicts of interests. 
 
 "It makes no sense to say 'no new deals," said Richard W Painter, a White House ethics adviser under President George W Bush. 
 
 "Is he going to continue to borrow money from foreign banks like Bank of China? That is a deal," Mr Painter told the New York Times. "Or collect rent from foreign government-owned companies? That is a deal. Will he still be hiring people, or having people stay in his hotels?" 
 
 Mr Trump's extensive domestic and international business interests include hotels and golf courses, including two in Scotland, as well as a variety of real estate holdings: ownerships or investments in hotels, offices and residential buildings. 
 
 Last month, Mr Trump issued a series of tweets pledged to "leave my great business in total" saying it was "visually important" to "in no way have a conflict of interest". 
 
 Image copyright Twitter 
 
 Media reports suggested that the delay in outlining how he plans to separate his business interests from his presidency was also due to his focus on a number of high-profile cabinet appointments he has been making. 
 
 Mr Trump said he was appointing Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn as his "top economic adviser". 
 
 Mr Cohn will head the White House National Economic Council, a position that will make him one of the most influential voices on economic decisions in the White House. 
 
 The Goldman Sachs president is the third person from the bank to join Mr Trump's cabinet. Steven Mnuchin - the incoming treasury secretary - and Steve Bannon - the new senior White House adviser are both former executives. ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201701/1765/1155968404_5278363439001_5278358894001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Trump drops ‘no new deals’ pledge The top federal ethics official says Trump's conflicts of interest plan is 'meaningless.' 
 
 Donald Trump will not sell his business nor place his assets in a blind trust while serving as president, the president-elect and lawyers involved in the negotiations said Wednesday during his long-awaited news conference. 
 
 Instead, Trump’s company will not enter into new foreign deals and will appoint an ethics adviser who must approve any new domestic deals in writing, according to the ethics arrangement the president-elect laid out Wednesday. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 The lawyers also promised that Trump’s businesses and assets will be put into a trust for the duration of the presidency and added he will have “no involvement whatsoever” in the businesses. 
 
 Trump had terminated “all pending deals” and would impose “severe new restrictions” on new deals in the United States. As previously said, his two oldest adult sons will manage the company, with the help of a longtime executive of the Trump Organization. The lawyers said Trump will have “limited information rights” regarding what’s happening at the company he built over decades. 
 
 Under the new ethics plan, Trump, his children and his longtime business associates will be barred from discussing company operations and the inner workings of the U.S. government. Trump's team did not provide any details on how that ban would be enforced or verified. 
 
 The head of the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics said Donald Trump's conflicts of interest plan is "meaningless" and sets up the incoming administration for constant controversy. 
 
 "I need to talk about ethics today because the plan the president has announced doesn't meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades has met," OGE chief Walter Shaub said during an afternoon press conference hosted by the Brookings Institution. 
 
 Shaub initially praised Trump in November for his ethics moves but said the arrangement the president-elect just announced Wednesday doesn't address "the perception that government leaders would use their official positions for personal profit." 
 
 “Stepping back from running his positions is meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective,” Shaub said. “The presidency is a full-time job and he would have had to step back anyway.” 
 
 Trump’s team defended the arrangement during Trump's morning appearance, saying that divesting or taking the company public was not feasible, and that the current approach would eliminate the possibility of conflicts of interest without causing him “unnecessary” losses. 
 
 “President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built," said Trump attorney Sheri Dillon. 
 
 Trump himself said he was doing more than what it required. “I don’t have to do this,” he said during the nationally-televised press conference at Trump Tower in New York. 
 
 Dillon said Trump’s company had terminated 30 business deals ahead of him entering the White House, saying it had cost Trump and his children money. 
 
 The organization is interviewing candidates for the job of ethics adviser, a person who must approve new deals in writing, according to the lawyers handling the separation. The lawyers said the adviser's standards for determining new deals would include "the appropriateness of a counterparty," whether the transaction reflects the market value and other ethical concerns a deal could raise. 
 
 Separately, the Trump Organization is also creating a new position — chief compliance counsel — that makes sure the company is “operating at the highest level of integrity and not taking any actions that could be perceived as exploiting the office of the presidency,” Dillon said. 
 
 Trump himself, Dillon said, won’t be apprised of any incremental changes to his portfolio and will only have access to reports on profit and loss for his company as a whole. “He will only know of a deal if he reads it in the paper or sees it on TV,” she said. 
 
 Remaining debt will stay in place and will be paid down in the ordinary course of business, the lawyer said. 
 
 Ivanka Trump will be completely separated from the business empire, the lawyers said. 
 
 Trump also has prohibited his company from making any references in public, including on social media, to his role as president. His attorneys had previously told POLITICO that the company would not be using images of Trump in advertisements and that it also wouldn’t sell any presidential memorabilia inside his hotels or golf course pro shops. 
 
 The arrangement isn’t satisfying Trump’s critics, who say that maintaining any ties to his business poses a cascading series of conflict of interest as he governs. 
 
 “Tragically, the Trump plan to deal with his business conflicts announced today falls short in every respect,” said Norm Eisen, a former top White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama who has been among the most outspoken voices calling for a complete divestment. “Mr. Trump’s ill-advised course will precipitate scandal and corruption." 
 
 “President-elect Donald Trump has failed his ethics test. Now, America will suffer the consequences,” added Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. 
 
 Trump had previously said he wouldn’t enter into any new deals, and new domestic deals could still entangle his financial interests with the presidency. Dillon during the press conference explained that the licensing arrangements that are central to Trump’s business -- much of his profit comes from selling his name for branding, and he has publicly said his brand is “hotter than ever” -- would remain in the hands of the company. She explained that if Trump had sold his brand outside the company, he’d then be entitled to royalties that would only open him up to greater criticism. 
 
 “This would result in the trust retaining an interest in the brand without the ability to assure it does not exploit the office of the president,” Dillon said. “Whatever price was paid would be subject to criticism and scrutiny. Was it too high? Is there pay for play? Was too much paid to curry favor with the president-elect?” 
 
 His company also plans to keep ownership of a new high-end hotel in downtown Washington, which is leased by the federal government. 
 
 Critics and even some of Trump’s friends and longtime business associates expect him to continue talking to his sons about the businesses, and ethics experts have said that he will inherently know how the business is doing -- because he knows where his properties are (they are often emblazoned with his name.) And Trump knows what assets he holds, meaning he will inherently understand how new laws will benefit or hurt the trust and his sons. 
 
 The Trump lawyers also said a blind trust, selling his business or divesting didn’t make sense. “You cannot have a totally blind trust with an operating business,” Dillon said. “President Trump can’t un-know he owns Trump Tower, and the press will make sure than any new development at the Trump Organization are well publicized.” 
 
 As details emerged of Trump’s plan, critics raised questions about whether the president-elect’s new financial arrangement was extensive enough to prevent Constitutional challenges under the emoluments clause, which restricts U.S. officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments. Trump’s lawyers say the arcane provision doesn’t apply to Trump’s situation but the president-elect would nonetheless voluntarily give all profits from foreign governments to his hotels to the U.S. treasury. 
 
 Inside Trump’s government will be several potential conflict-of-interest landmines because he’ll be appointing agency leaders who have jurisdiction over issues directly relevant to their boss’s private affairs. The General Services Administration, for example, is expected to continue to lease the building that houses Trump’s new Washington hotel. The Labor and Homeland Security departments are charged with handling foreign worker visa applications and illegal immigration enforcement central issues for the hotels and golf courses affiliated with the Trump brand. 
 
 And Trump’s organization still owes hundreds of millions in debt to foreign countries, raising additional questions about whether he would be beholden to them. 
 
 “Without a full and complete divestment of financial conflicts of interests, the American people will not be able to tell where the Trump Organization ends and where the Trump administration begins,” Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bob Casey and Tammy Baldwin said in a joint statement issued ahead of the Trump press conference. 
 
 Democrats in the minority have little power to force hearings or pass legislation aimed at fighting Trump’s conflicts, though that hasn’t stopped them from demanding oversight investigations and threatening to block confirmation of Cabinet nominees. They’re also threatening more dire consequences if Trump pushes the limits of the Constitution and accepts gifts or payments from foreign governments. 
 
 In a statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Tyler Law said the House GOP was “being naive if they don’t recognize that Donald Trump’s staggering web of conflicts and lack of ethical standards will remain, and ultimately hurt their ability to govern.” 
 
 Lawyers for Trump maintained that conflict of interest rules do not apply to the presidency, and that Trump was committed to the American people now - not the pursuit of personal profit. 
 
 Trump attorneys emphasized the “massive” nature of the Trump business empire and likened it to former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, the heir to an industrial fortune whose finances were placed under intense public scrutiny during congressional hearings upon his 1974 confirmation. 
 
 Trump’s team has been scrambling since the election to address its conflicts, relying on a team of lawyers that includes incoming White House general counsel Don McGahn, former Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush counsel Fred Fielding, as well as attorneys from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. 
 
 Since the election, the lines have often been murky. Trump has said publicly it is not difficult to separate his business empire from the presidency, but aides and advisers have noted the process has taken so long because it is so difficult. 
 
 His sons have traveled across the country and world to analyze the new properties. “I think they will largely be just holding the fort down,” one person close to Trump said. 
 
 Eric Trump is expected to have particular power in the businesses, two people close to the transition say. 
 
 The Trump Organization also has dropped pending or in-progress projects in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Georgia, India and Saudi Arabia. Trump aides last month said the president-elect had sold as much as $40 million in stock holdings during the campaign. He also settled lawsuits alleging fraud at Trump University and backed off plans to build a controversial sea wall to protect his Ireland golf course. 
 
 The Trump Organization also settled two labor agreements involving more than 500 workers at its Las Vegas and Washington hotels, agreeing to four-year contracts that give food, beverage and housekeeping employees annual raises and pensions and healthcare benefits. 
 
 A New York source involved in the negotiations said Trump was personally involved in the labor talks and suggested the president-elect may still be having a hard time letting go from the business dealings he’s built his career around. 
 
 “It’s remarkable,” the source said. “In terms of separation or whatever, I think there’s zero chance that he’s not going to have his fingers in his business.” ||||| With a West Wing office but no specific title – and no precedent for adult children whose father is president – the rules Trump is subject to are under dispute 
 
 After months of attending meetings of world leaders and visiting factories with her father, the role of first daughter Ivanka Trump is officially expanding – creating new ethical issues for an administration that has been heavily criticized over its potential conflicts of interest. 
 
 
 
 Ivanka Trump has West Wing office and will get access to classified information Read more 
 
 She will not have a specific title, but Trump will have an office in the West Wing, a government-issued phone and computer and security clearance to access classified information, and she will advise her father. 
 
 “While there is no modern precedent for an adult child of the president, I will voluntarily follow all of the ethics rules placed on government employees,” she told Politico in a statement. 
 
 
 
 But following the ethics guidelines should not be voluntary, said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics lawyer for George W Bush between 2005 and 2007. 
 
 “Given what she’s going to do, I don’t think she has any choice,” he said. “She has a West Wing office, she has equipment, she has a White House email address, she’s going to be doing policy work,” said Painter. 
 
 “For purposes of the conflict of interest statute, I believe she is a government employee,” he added. 
 
 
 
 Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, argues that since she will earn no salary and not be sworn in, she does not count as a government employee. There is no precedent for adult children whose father is president working in the White House, although two presidents – Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan – had their nieces serve in the role of first lady since Jackson was a widower and Buchanan a bachelor. 
 
 Trump has handed control over the day-to-day running of her eponymous clothing business to an executive and its assets are maintained by a trust managed by two of her husband’s siblings. 
 
 As part of the trust rules, outlined in the New York Times, Trump can veto any potential business deals for her clothing company that might create a conflict with her political work. 
 
 
 
 That means, points out Painter, that Trump has to know about any new deal that might put her at risk of breaking the statute, meaning she can be held responsible. 
 
 “She’s got accountability on that stuff. She can’t just blame the trustee,” he said. 
 
 Trump’s marriage to her father’s senior adviser, the real estate developer Jared Kushner, poses additional potential problems, because both could benefit financially from each other’s businesses. 
 
 
 
 Painter warned that the pair should avoid official political discussions involved with trade agreements regarding textiles, real estate and even bank deregulation, since that can affect real estate. 
 
 Ivanka Trump sees show on welcoming foreigners as new travel ban halted Read more 
 
 That means if the premier of China visits the White House – most of Ivanka Trump’s clothing line is made in China and Hong Kong – it is fine for her to attend the meeting, but she should not mention trade and if the discussion begins to focus on trade, she should excuse herself, says Painter. 
 
 The ethics expert noted approvingly that Ivanka Trump engaged Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the same legal services used by the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, former head of ExxonMobil, to handle issues of conflict of interest. Kushner also used the DC-based lawyers to manage his potential conflicts of interest with his family business after taking the role of adviser in the Trump administration. 
 
 “It’s a criminal statute, so people better not mess up under it. But I think she’ll do the right thing,” said Painter.
– Donald Trump tweeted overnight that eldest sons Don and Eric would run his business enterprise while he's in the White House, though, as the BBC notes, he makes no mention of what daughter Ivanka's role will be. That could suggest that she and husband Jared Kushner will have more of a focus on Trump's political policies, with Politico noting that the couple is considering a move to DC. Earlier, Trump canceled a press conference set for Thursday in which he was going to lay out details about his business operation, and his tweets said only that it would be rescheduled in the "near future." Trump reiterated that he would be "leaving his businesses" before the inauguration to focus on the presidency. "Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them," he wrote. "No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office." That last line is a little puzzling, a former White House ethics adviser under George W. Bush tells the New York Times. "Is he going to continue to borrow money from foreign banks like Bank of China? That is a deal," says Richard Painter. "Or collect rent from foreign government-owned companies? That is a deal. Will he still be hiring people, or having people stay in his hotels?" One example of the complication he faces: Trump is part owner of a Vegas hotel whose employees are in a dispute with the National Labor Relations Board. As president, Trump would appoint members to the NLRB.