NEW YORK • US President-elect Donald Trump declared that the law is "totally" on his side when it comes to questions about the conflict of interest of his business dealings, and ethics laws.

"The president cannot have a conflict of interest," said the real estate mogul. It would be extremely difficult to sell off his businesses because they are real estate holdings, Mr Trump said, but added that he would like to do something to address the ethics concerns.

He noted that he had turned over the management of the businesses to his children, a move ethics lawyers said is not sufficient to prevent conflicts of interest.

Mr Trump, however, insisted that he could still have business partners in the White House for grip-and-grin photographs. He said that critics were pressuring him to go beyond what he was willing to do, including distancing himself from his children while they run his businesses.

NYTIMES