Trump under fire over business plan

Donald Trump said Wednesday he had handed complete control of his business to his adult sons but stopped short of a full divestment, earning a swift rebuke from the government ethics watchdog.

Trump, the wealthiest man ever to ascend to the US presidency, has until now run the Trump Organization whose network of hotels, golf clubs and luxury residences stretches across 20 countries but is not listed on the stock market, thus releasing no public statistics.

The 70-year-old billionaire has so far flouted recommendations that he sell off all his assets in a blind trust to avoid any suspicion of corruption or conflict of interest.

"My two sons, who are right here, Don and Eric, are going to be running the company," the president-elect told a news conference in New York. "They're not going to discuss it with me," he added.

Daughter Ivanka, whose husband Jared Kushner will be a special adviser to the president, will have no further involvement in the business.

But the head of the Office of Government Ethics publicly criticized the plan, saying it fell short of the example set by commanders-in-chief for 40 years.

"It doesn't meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the last four decades has met," said Walter Shaub, holding up secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson, who stepped down as CEO of ExxonMobil, as a model to follow.

Shaub said the refusal to engage in new deals does not solve the problem of existing business interests, and called on Trump to divest fully.

"Nothing short of divestiture will resolve these conflicts," he said.

"This isn't the way the presidency has worked since Congress passed the ethics and government act in 1978 in the immediate aftermath of the Watergate scandal," he added.