Donald Trump to Place Business Holdings in a Trust Run by Adult Sons

President-elect Donald Trump said he would put his assets into a trust and relinquish control of his business to his two adult sons in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest during his presidency.

Mr. Trump will sever management ties to the Trump Organization and play no role in its operations under the terms of the trust. While he is in office, his real-estate empire will abide by “severe restrictions on new deals,” an attorney retained by the president-elect said. If foreign governments make payments to his hotels—including a new one near the White House—Mr. Trump plans to donate all profits to the U.S. treasury, said the attorney, Sheri Dillon.

In a news conference, Mr. Trump said he is legally entitled to serve as president and run his business, but has opted not to do that. His sons Eric and Donald Jr. will run the Trump Organization, he said, adding that “they’re not going to discuss it with me.”

On a table next to the lectern, the Trump transition team piled stacks of paper laying out the terms of the trust.

According to the agreement, Mr. Trump will add to the Trump Organization’s management team an ethics adviser who will give written approval of new deals that could raise concerns about conflicts of interest.

No new foreign deals will be permitted, Ms. Dillon said. In his remarks, Mr. Trump said that over the past weekend he turned down an opportunity to do a $2 billion deal in Dubai because he wanted to avoid creating an ethics issue.

New domestic deals will be allowed but will go through “a vigorous vetting process,” Ms. Dillon said.

According to some experts, the trust and other measures envisioned by Mr. Trump don’t create the firewall needed to fully insulate him from his holdings. The trust he is creating to hold his businesses will continue to receive millions from their profits and will be run by family members—not an impartial third party.

An analysis by The Wall Street Journal of Mr. Trump’s financial disclosures last year estimated his 2016 pretax income at $160 million. A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign said this figure was wrong by “a lot,” but didn’t elaborate.

Mr. Trump also will continue to be aware of the sources of this income.

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