NEW YORK - The morning after bombshell reports about alleged contacts with Russia, Donald Trump is scheduled to take questions at his first formal news conference since July.

The president-elect speaks less than a week after intelligence agencies briefed him on reports containing unverified allegations that Russia has blackmail information on him involving sexual and financial impropriety.

The president-elect, on Twitter, has denounced the reports as "fake news" being used in "a total political witch hunt."

Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer criticized Buzzfeed for posting the unverified documents about the president-elect on Tuesday night, tweeting: ".@BuzzFeed itself admits 'as we noted in our story there is serious reason to doubt the allegations'. Just pathetic."

Information in the documents was developed by a former intelligence operative first hired by political opponents of Trump; his information made its way to U.S.intelligence agencies.

The report includes claims that Russia has spent at least five years "cultivating, supporting, and assisting" Trump, and that it has compromising sexual and financial allegations against the president-elect. It also claims that Trump associates colluded with Kremlin officials during last year's election.

"An absolute fantasy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters, also using the term "witch hunt."

Citing denials by Russian officials, Trump said in a Wednesday morning tweet storm that "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!"

U.S. officials cited the allegations as they briefed Trump on Friday about another controversy involving Russia: Its role in the hackings of Democratic Party officials in a bid to undermine Hillary Clinton's candidacy and promote Trump's chances.

That is another likely topic at Wednesday's session between Trump and reporters.

The news conference at Trump Tower — the high-rise where Trump announced his presidential candidacy on June 16, 2015 — is one rescheduled from December.

Trump initially set that December event to discuss what he plans to do with his various businesses during his time in the White House. Since then, he has said he will turn his business empire over to his sons.
• Criticism of some of Trump's Cabinet nominations and staff appointments, including the selection of son-in-law Jared Kushner as a top White House adviser.</s>President Barack Obama is set to deliver his farewell address to the nation Tuesday evening from his hometown of Chicago, as he seeks to defend his legacy as the calendar turns to the age of Trump. Obama will be joined by his most loyal supporters, staffers, and some of the Americans who have benefited under his administration, particularly from the imperiled Affordable Care Act. Obama will harken back to his time as a community organizer and as an inspirational candidate in 2008 as he seeks to rejuvenate despondent Democrats after the last election, while encouraging to keep up the fight for his legacy. Meanwhile, he is quietly rebuilding his political operation and returning to campaigning for the still-troubled Democratic National Committee, which languished under his presidency. But Obama also instructed his staff to ensure that the speech also reaches out to those who voted for President-elect Donald Trump.



The confirmation hearings for Trump’s intended nominees are underway, kicking off with Sen. Jeff Sessions for the post of Attorney General. In a lengthy opening statement, Sessions promised to faithfully enforce the law if elected, while seeking to defend himself from charges from Democratic and civil rights groups questioning his commitment and record on civil rights issues.

Trump is testing the limits of federal anti-nepotism laws with the selection of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be a senior adviser in the White House. Federal statute both prohibits the hiring of a son-in-law, even by a president, and from paying that person. Kushner will not take a salary in an effort to be more compliant with the law and to mitigate any potential legal challenge. Democrats are already calling for a Justice Department investigation, but it appears that the Trump position will be to argue that the restriction on whom a president can select for jobs is an unconstitutional restriction on his appointment powers.

A field day for business lobbyists. Cory Booker to take a stand against Sessions. And Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway suggests he may roll back Russia sanctions.

Here are your must reads:

Barack Obama’s Farewell Address and 6 Other Memorable Presidential Goodbyes

 The story of America can be told through these messages [TIME]

In Final Speech, Obama Must Reconcile His Hopes With Trump’s

 His legacy is on the line [Associated Press]

Conway Dismisses Need for Independent Hack Probe

 Says Trump may reconsider sanctions on Russia [USA Today]

In Donald Trump’s Washington, Business Lobbyists Champ at the Bit

 Energy companies, airlines and others have launched lobbying blitzes amid renewed hope for pro-business policy changes [Wall Street Journal]

“He is somebody who I think is not lacking in confidence, which is … probably a prerequisite for the job, or at least you have to have enough craziness to think that you can do the job.” — President Obama to ABC News on his successor

“I abhor the Klan, and what that it represents, and its hateful ideology.” — Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s intended nominee to be Attorney General, in the opening statement of his confirmation hearing

Cory Booker Will Take an Unprecedented Stand Against Jeff Sessions [TIME]

D.C. Stores Aren’t Actually Running Out of Dresses for Donald Trump’s Inauguration [People]

5 Things to Know About Donald Trump’s Adviser Son-in-Law Jared Kushner [TIME]</s>NEW YORK — In a heated confrontation at Donald Trump's first news conference as president-elect, Trump refused to answer a CNN reporter’s questions and called the network “fake news.”

The showdown between Trump and Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta happened after the president-elect answered questions about a tweet alleging connections between the U.S. and Nazi Germany.

The tweet, he said, was in reference to a report published by CNN on classified documents alleging Russian operatives may have compromising information about Trump's personal life and finances. Buzzfeed later published raw, unsubstantiated documents expanding on CNN's reporting.

The reports were "false, and fake and never happened," Trump charged.

"That's something Nazi Germany would have done and did do. I think it's a disgrace that information that was false and fake got released to the public," Trump said.

Shortly after slamming Buzzfeed as "a pile of garbage" for reporting the information, and CNN for "building it up," Acosta addressed Trump: "since you're attacking us, can I ask a question?"

Met with a stern "no," Trump said “your organization is terrible,” and told Acosta he was "rude" for continuing to speak.

Shortly after the confrontation, CNN released the following statement:

CNN's decision to publish carefully sourced reporting about the operations of our government is vastly different than Buzzfeed's decision to publish unsubstantiated memos. The Trump team knows this. They are using Buzzfeed's decision to deflect from CNN's reporting, which has been matched by the other major news organizations. We are fully confident in our reporting. It represents the core of what the First Amendment protects, informing the people of the inner workings of their government; in this case, briefing materials prepared for President Obama and President-elect Trump last week. We made it clear that we were not publishing any of the details of the 35-page document because we have not corroborated the report's allegations. Given that members of the Trump transition team have so vocally criticized our reporting, we encourage them to identify, specifically, what they believe to be inaccurate.

Acknowledging the ordeal, Acosta later said on-air he was nearly thrown out of the news conference, according to Buzzfeed reporter Dominic Holden.</s>President-elect Donald Trump held a press conference today -- his first since winning the election.

He opened the sometimes contentious session with reporters by addressing suggestions that U.S. intelligence agencies leaked unsubstantiated reports to the media about Trump's relationship with Russia, calling it 'fake news.'

"I think it's a disgrace that information would be let out. I saw the information, I read the information outside of that meeting," he said, a reference to a classified briefing he received from intelligence leaders. "It's all fake news, it's phony stuff, it didn't happen. It was gotten by opponents of ours," Trump declared.

Click the player for CBN News' interview with our political correspondent David Brody on his reaction to the President-elect's first press conference.

When Jim Acosta, Senior White House Correspondent for CNN, attempted to ask Trump a question, the President-elect refused to answer. "Not you. Your organization is terrible," Trump said. "I'm not going to give you a question, you are fake news."

When asked about a BuzzFeed report, Trump said, "It's all fake news. It's phony stuff. It did not happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours, as you know because you reported it and so did many of the other people. It was a group of opponents they got together — sick people — and they put that crap together."

He also referred to BuzzFeed as a "failing pile of garbage" and said the publication would "suffer the consequences" for publishing the unconfirmed report.

The president-elect also took on the issue of Obamacare.

"Obamacare is a complete and total disaster," he said.

"We're going to be submitting -- as soon as our secretary is approved -- it will be repealed and replaced. It will be essentially simultaneously." 

 

 Mr. Trump also talked about his vow to build a wall along the Mexican border, saying that Mexico would reimburse America the cost of building it.

"I could wait about a year and half until we finish our negotiations with Mexico, which will start immediately after we get to office, but I don't want to wait," Trump said.

"Mike Pence is leading an effort to get final approvals through various agencies and through Congress for the wall to begin."

On the Supreme Court, Trump said he has already met with numerous candidates - a list of about 20.

"I'll be making the decision on who we will put up ... that will be probably within two weeks of the 20th," Trump said.

When it came to his business dealings, it was announced that Trump's sons will take complete control of his businesses.

A lawyer for Trump detailed how he plans to separate himself from the Trump organization.

The lawyer says the company will do no new foreign deals but can pursue domestic ones, and says that the Trump organization will appoint an ethics adviser to its management team who must approve deals that could raise concerns about conflicts.

"Just like with conflicts of interest, he wants to do more than what the Constitution requires. So President-elect Trump has decided, and we are announcing today, that he is going to voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the United States Treasury. This way it is the American people who will profit," said Sheri Dillon,Trump tax attorney.

Trump also announced plans by Fiat Chrysler to add 2,000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio. He noted that Ford would not be building a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico and would instead update an existing Michigan fatory that will add 700 jobs.

"I hope General Motors will be following," he said.

The president-elect ended his first press conference saying he hopes his sons will do a good job running his business empire.

"I hope at the end of eight years I come back and say 'Oh, you did a good job. Otherwise if they do a bad job I'll say, 'you're fired'."</s>New York (CNN) President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday will hold his first news conference in more than five months.

Trump is expected to explain the actions he is taking to distance himself from his multibillion-dollar business to avoid conflicts of interest as President just nine days before he is sworn in.

But that won't be the only focus of questions on Wednesday as Trump faces the press corps that will follow him to the White House for the first time since he was elected president of the United States.

Here is a selection of 10 questions for Trump's news conference:

1. What compromising information could Russia have about you?

Top US intelligence officials provided Trump on Friday with intelligence that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about the billionaire real estate mogul and incoming President, several US officials told CNN.

The news broke just Tuesday night and Trump will be pressed to address the report for the first time on Wednesday.

The report raised concerns that if the claims are true, Russia could use the compromising information to blackmail Trump as president.

The news could also once again raise the volume of calls for Trump to release his tax returns, which he declined to do during the presidential campaign and could offer more information about his financial dealings.

2. Do you agree with the US intelligence community that Russia orchestrated the hack of Democratic groups and individuals with the goal of harming Hillary Clinton's presidential bid?

Trump will face several questions about the hacking and release of emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

The US intelligence community has now concluded that Russia was behind the hacks as part of an "influence campaign" ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Trump has refused to publicly back those conclusions.

Instead, Trump has spent weeks casting doubt on those conclusions, deriding the US intelligence community for its past failings and arguing that the conclusions are nothing more than a politically-motivated attempt to undermine his presidency and its legitimacy.

Still, Trump has yet to come face to face with the US intelligence community's report -- of which he received a classified briefing -- which concluded the Russians acted to help him and hurt Clinton 2016 campaign.

3. President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia as a result of its cyberhacking aimed at influencing the presidential election. Will you keep those sanctions in place?

Trump has yet to say whether he would keep the recently-imposed sanctions in place once he takes office.

But his first reaction to the news of the sanctions was to praise Putin for not retaliating against the retaliatory sanctions by imposing sanctions of his own.

"Great move on delay (by V. Putin) -- I always knew he was very smart!" Trump tweeted.

Trump's top aide Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, called Obama's sanctions decision a maneuver to "box in" Trump and has most recently said that Trump "will want to make sure that our actions are proportionate what occurred, based on what we know."

4. Why aren't you fully divesting your business assets?

It's still unclear exactly what steps Trump will take to disentangle himself of potential conflicts of interest, but the billionaire has been pretty clear that whatever steps he takes will stop short of full divestiture.

Trump has said that he plans to step down from his management position as head of the Trump Organization and put his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, in charge.

But he's said he doesn't plan to fully divest from the company or put it in the hands of a blind trust --- which means that Trump will retain a significant and potentially ethically-challenging connection to his business and properties.

Whatever Trump does announce as it relates to addressing conflicts of interest, it's likely he'll face questions about whether the steps he announces go far enough.

5. Is it appropriate to give your son-in-law a West Wing job as senior adviser?

The Trump transition announced Monday that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner would become one of Trump's three most powerful advisers at the White House -- a decision that will test the bounds of an anti-nepotism statute barring such hires.

The Trump team is arguing that the statue doesn't apply to staffers in the White House Office, an argument Democrats and ethics lawyers are already questioning.

Either way, questions will remain as to whether the appointment violates the spirit of the anti-nepotism law.

6. Do you disavow...? Do you apologize...?

Since he is now President-elect, Trump could be pressed to disavow or apologize for some of his most controversial and divisive campaign rhetoric and proposals.

Trump has yet to rebuke his proposal to ban Muslims from the United States and reassure billions of Muslims around the world that they will not be barred entry on the basis of their religion.

He has not apologized for or disavowed his comments asserting that "Islam hates us."

And he has not stepped back from his rhetoric branding undocumented Mexican immigrants criminals and "rapists" or his call for instituting surveillance of US mosques.

7. Will you work in lockstep with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill?

Trump repeatedly clashed with Republican leaders during his establishment-bashing presidential run.

And since his election, the President-elect has caught Republican leaders off guard with tweets and comments.

As House Republicans considered a measure to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, Trump set the Republican conference into a frenzy when he tweeted that they weren't right to do so at the start of the new Congress.

And on Tuesday, Trump urged Republican leaders in an interview with the New York Times to move to immediately repeal Obamacare and replace it within weeks -- a likely impossible move as Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to scramble to cobble together a replacement for the behemoth healthcare law.

8. Do you plan to keep Monica Crowley on your national security staff?

The Trump transition has yet to indicate that the revelations have put Crowley's job in jeopardy, but Trump himself has yet to weigh in.

9. What is your plan to defeat ISIS? And how will you change the dynamic in Syria?

Trump during the campaign signaled that he had a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but wouldn't discuss it. He also said he would call on his incoming national security officials to offer recommendations on the fight against ISIS.

Is Trump now prepared to explain how he plans to fight ISIS? And how will he change the US role in Syria as he assumes the role of commander-in-chief?

10. Why did you suddenly reverse course on your "birther" views?

This is the question that hung in the air as Trump walked out of the ballroom in his DC hotel where he disavowed his birther views but refused to answer questions about his sudden course change.

The event had been billed as a news conference.

Trump has yet to explain why he suddenly changed views and what new evidence could have emerged since Obama releasing his birth certificate in 2011.</s>Sen. Bernie Sanders once called Donald Trump a “pathological liar,” but at a forum at George Washington University in Washington, DC, the self-described socialist praised the president-elect’s “extraordinary accomplishment” in winning the White House.

“Trump took on the Republican establishment, he took on the Democratic establishment, took on the media establishment and he ended up winning the election to become president of the United States. And that is an extraordinary accomplishment. And it talks about perseverance, it talks about very strong political instincts, it talks about a way to connect with people,” Sanders said.

“So I give Donald Trump his due,” he said.

It was just a month ago — after Trump secured the presidency in last year’s general election — that Sanders described the mogul-turned-politician in much worse terms.

“What do you do when you have a president-elect, soon to be president, who — and I say this not happily, but I think most people who observe him would agree — is a pathological liar who changes his mind every single day?” Sanders said Dec. 8 in an interview on MSNBC, saying Trump can’t be trusted to keep his word.</s>NEW YORK - The morning after bombshell reports about alleged contacts with Russia, Donald Trump is scheduled to take questions at his first formal news conference since July.

The president-elect speaks less than a week after intelligence agencies briefed him on reports containing unverified allegations that Russia has blackmail information on him involving sexual and financial impropriety.

The president-elect, on Twitter, has denounced the reports as "fake news" being used in "a total political witch hunt."

Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer criticized Buzzfeed for posting the unverified documents about the president-elect on Tuesday night, tweeting: ".@BuzzFeed itself admits 'as we noted in our story there is serious reason to doubt the allegations'. Just pathetic."

Information in the documents was developed by a former intelligence operative first hired by political opponents of Trump; his information made its way to U.S.intelligence agencies.

The report includes claims that Russia has spent at least five years "cultivating, supporting, and assisting" Trump, and that it has compromising sexual and financial allegations against the president-elect. It also claims that Trump associates colluded with Kremlin officials during last year's election.

"An absolute fantasy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters, also using the term "witch hunt."

Citing denials by Russian officials, Trump said in a Wednesday morning tweet storm that "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!"

U.S. officials cited the allegations as they briefed Trump on Friday about another controversy involving Russia: Its role in the hackings of Democratic Party officials in a bid to undermine Hillary Clinton's candidacy and promote Trump's chances.

That is another likely topic at Wednesday's session between Trump and reporters.

The news conference at Trump Tower — the high-rise where Trump announced his presidential candidacy on June 16, 2015 — is one rescheduled from December.

Trump initially set that December event to discuss what he plans to do with his various businesses during his time in the White House. Since then, he has said he will turn his business empire over to his sons.
• Criticism of some of Trump's Cabinet nominations and staff appointments, including the selection of son-in-law Jared Kushner as a top White House adviser.</s>NEW YORK - The morning after bombshell reports about alleged contacts with Russia, Donald Trump is scheduled to take questions at his first formal news conference since July.

The president-elect speaks less than a week after intelligence agencies briefed him on reports containing unverified allegations that Russia has blackmail information on him involving sexual and financial impropriety.

The president-elect, on Twitter, has denounced the reports as "fake news" being used in "a total political witch hunt."

Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer criticized Buzzfeed for posting the unverified documents about the president-elect on Tuesday night, tweeting: ".@BuzzFeed itself admits 'as we noted in our story there is serious reason to doubt the allegations'. Just pathetic."

Information in the documents was developed by a former intelligence operative first hired by political opponents of Trump; his information made its way to U.S.intelligence agencies.

The report includes claims that Russia has spent at least five years "cultivating, supporting, and assisting" Trump, and that it has compromising sexual and financial allegations against the president-elect. It also claims that Trump associates colluded with Kremlin officials during last year's election.

"An absolute fantasy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters, also using the term "witch hunt."

Citing denials by Russian officials, Trump said in a Wednesday morning tweet storm that "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!"

U.S. officials cited the allegations as they briefed Trump on Friday about another controversy involving Russia: Its role in the hackings of Democratic Party officials in a bid to undermine Hillary Clinton's candidacy and promote Trump's chances.

That is another likely topic at Wednesday's session between Trump and reporters.

The news conference at Trump Tower — the high-rise where Trump announced his presidential candidacy on June 16, 2015 — is one rescheduled from December.

Trump initially set that December event to discuss what he plans to do with his various businesses during his time in the White House. Since then, he has said he will turn his business empire over to his sons.
• Criticism of some of Trump's Cabinet nominations and staff appointments, including the selection of son-in-law Jared Kushner as a top White House adviser.</s>With just ten days to go before Donald Trump takes office - some still hold out hope it might not happen.

Or at the very least that the Trump Presidency might not last very long - if he is impeached.

While the term impeach in the UK means 'to call into question someone's integrity' or 'to charge someone with treason or another crime against the state' - in the US it is a word used to explain when the holder of a public office is charged with misconduct.

Which is why since the results of the US election thousands of people have been Googling the question: Can Donald Trump be impeached?

Well, at least one law professor claims there is already enough evidence to remove the President Elect before he has time to put his feet up on the Resolute Desk.

There are a couple of issues hanging over Trump's head.

The first is rather unhelpfully called the 'emoluments clause.'

It's a section of the US Constitution that bans office holders from using their position to enjoy benefits, accept gifts or make profit from overseas nations.

While some legal experts say the President is exempt from the cause, others suggest Trump's Worldwide property and hotel empire - not to mention his newly opened hotel just a few minutes' walk from the White House - is just asking for trouble.

Trump insists he's not legally obliged to divest from his business holdings - but that's far from unarguable.

On top of that, there's his decision today to appoint his son-in-law Jared Kushner to a White House job.

That would appear to be against US federal laws prohibiting nepotism - which bans public officials including the President to appoint, employ, promote, or advance members of his family.

As The Independent reports, in the US, impeachment is the first step in a constitutionally sanctioned two stage process to remove a president from office for committing “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours”.

According to experts, those high crimes and misdemeanours can be one of three things:

Then, ultimately it is up to the House of Representatives to decide if any offence someone is clearly guilty of warrants impeachment.

It decides if there are grounds to consider impeaching a president either via an:
• vote - which should include all members of the House.

If the majority then vote the president guilty on any charges, it will result in an impeachment.

But then the Head of State stays in office until the second stage of the process - a trial by the Senate, which could either convict or clear them.

And then a majority two-thirds of the 100 Senators who sit as jurors on the trial have to find the president guilty before he can be removed from office.

So back to the burning question then: Can Donald Trump be impeached?

The short answer is yes, but it's unlikely.

Not only has it not happened before - Bill Clinton was memorably found guilty of wrongdoing but cleared by the Senate - but both the House of Representatives AND the Senate are now controlled by the Republicans.

And it's not currently thought that they hate him THAT much.

Plus they would need grounds.

The Independent reports that University of Utah law professor called Christopher Lewis Peterson wrote a 23-page article analysing why it would be correct for Congress to impeach Mr Trump.

Mr Peterson believes Mr Trump has engaged in fraud and racketeering which meet the criteria of “high crimes and misdemeanours.”

But he has not been convicted of any crime.

Trump was set to face criminal proceedings for raping a 13-year-old girl, but the case was dropped.

Which is why those allegations of fraud over Trump University could come back to haunt him.

If he were impeached, then Vice President-elect Mike Pence would become president - and given his stances on everything from gay marriage and racism to abortion and climate change, he's arguably even less popular than Trump.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump pledged to step away from his family-owned international real estate development, property management and licensing business before taking office Jan. 20.

With less than two weeks until his inauguration, he hasn't stepped very far.

Trump has canceled a handful of international deals and dissolved a few shell companies created for prospective investments.

Still, he continues to own or control some 500 companies that make up the Trump Organization, creating a tangle of potential conflicts of interest without precedent in modern U.S. history.

The president-elect is expected to give an update on his effort to distance himself from his business at a Wednesday news conference. He told The Associated Press on Friday that he would be announcing a "very simple solution."

Ethics experts have called for Trump to sell off his assets and place his investments in a blind trust, which means something his family would not control. That's what previous presidents have done.

Trump has given no indication he will go that far. He has said he will not be involved in day-to-day company operations and will leave that duty to his adult sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. The president-elect has not addressed the ethical minefield of whether he would retain a financial interest in his Trump Organization.

A look at what's known about what Trump has and hasn't tried to resolve his business entanglement before his swearing-in:

Trump has abandoned planned business ventures in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Georgia, India and Argentina. The Associated Press found he has dissolved shell companies tied to a possible business venture in Saudi Arabia.

It's unclear whether those moves are signs that Trump is dismantling the web of companies that make up his business. Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten has insisted none of the closures is related to Trump's election. He calls them "normal housecleaning."

The Trump Organization still has an expanding reach across the globe: The Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is set to open next month.

Trump has said there will be "no new deals" while he's in office. But Eric Trump, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, told Argentinian newspapers last week that the company was open to another business venture in the country.

"We would like to find something," Eric Trump told Clarin, as he toured a Trump building construction site. "We'll find a project."

The younger Trump did rule out expansion in Russia, at least any time soon.

"Is there a possibility sometime in the next 20, 30 years we end up in Russia? Absolutely. Is it right for us right now? Probably not," Eric Trump said, in a video interview with La Nacion posted on the newspaper's website.

Asked about the potential for conflicts of interest if the business continues to operate, Eric Trump compared the separation between the Trump-led government and Trump-led company to the separation between church and state. "These two things will be unfailingly separate," he said, adding, "we will not share functions."

Of Trump's U.S. portfolio, no venture has become more emblematic of the potential conflicts of interest facing Trump than his hotel at the Old Post Office in the nation's capital. The federal government, which he soon will oversee, holds the lease on the building he turned into a sparkling luxury hotel that opened shortly before Election Day.

The terms of Trump's contract with the government expressly prohibit elected officials from having a financial interest in the property. Democratic senators said the General Services Administration told them that the moment Trump takes office, he would violate the terms of his contract

Neither GSA nor Trump transition officials responded to inquiries about what steps, if any, Trump has taken with regard to that contract provision.

Trump is still listed as a producer for the reality TV show, "Celebrity Apprentice." He has said he will not spend time working on the show. Financial disclosures he filed during the campaign show his company, Trump Productions, earned about $5.9 million from "The Apprentice" shows in 2015.

Trump has a considerable amount of business debt that could put creditors in the position of having leverage over an enterprise with close ties to the U.S. president and his family. Last May, Trump reported on his financial disclosure that he had at least $315 million in debt related to his companies. The disclosed debt, mostly mortgages for his properties, is held by banks, including Deutsche Bank and investors who bought chunks of the debt from the original creditors.

Last month, Trump announced that he would shutter his charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, to avoid conflicts of interest.

The decision came after the foundation admitted in a tax filing that in 2015 and an unspecified number of previous years it violated IRS prohibitions against self-dealing, broadly defined as using charity money or assets to benefit Trump, his family, his companies or substantial contributors to the foundation.

The New York attorney general's office has said the foundation cannot dissolve until it completes its investigation into whether Trump used the foundation for personal gain. The attorney general's office has not said whether the investigation will be wrapped up by Trump inauguration.

Eric Trump has decided to shut down his charity, which primarily raised money for St. Jude's children's hospital, to pre-empt conflicts of interest. That move came after the younger Trump was found to be offering in a charity auction a coffee date with his sister, Ivanka Trump, who is expected to take a position in the White House.

Questions remain about how Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, who is planning to advise the president, will separate from their own businesses.

On Saturday, representatives for Kushner told the AP that he has been talking with the Office of Government Ethics and is exploring taking steps to disentangle himself from his business, The Kushner Companies, in preparation for taking a White House role.

Under those plans, Kushner representatives say he would resign as CEO of the real-estate development business, which has been involved in some $7 billion in acquisitions in the past 10 years.

Kushner would divest "substantial" assets including his stake in a New York City skyscraper that has been the subject of months of negotiations between Kushner and Anbang Insurance Group, a real estate giant with close ties to the Chinese government. Kushner's negotiations with the company were first reported by The New York Times.

Ivanka Trump, in addition to serving as an executive at her father's company, has developed a lifestyle brand selling shoes, jewelry and other products. She caught heat after her fine jewelry company marketed the $10,800 bracelet she wore during a postelection "60 Minutes" interview with her father.

In order to take posts in the administration, both Kushner and Ivanka Trump would need to argue that a federal anti-nepotism law that bar officials from appointing relatives to government positions does not apply to them.

Trump also is set to take office while battling a number of lawsuits. The president-elect sat for a videotaped deposition on Thursday involving a dispute with a celebrity chef who pulled out of a deal to open a restaurant at his new hotel in the Old Post Office building.

When Jose Andres scuttled his plans for the restaurant citing Trump's campaign comments about some Mexican immigrants being rapists and criminals, The Trump Organization sued him for breach of contract.

Trump also sued another celebrity chef, Geoffrey Zakarian, for similar reasons.

Trump did act to close out one of the highest-profile disputes, over his now-defunct Trump University real estate school. After his election in November, he agreed to pay $25 million to settle two class-action suits and one by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that alleged the school misled and defrauded students. Trump admitted no wrongdoing and has yet to pay the fine, according to court records.

AP Business Writer Bernard Condon and Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire in New York, AP writer Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, Iowa, and AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump appoints businessman and son-in-law Jared Kushner as his senior advisor in the White House.