Donald Trump announced on Saturday of plans to end his charitable foundation, in attempts to avoid conflicts of interest.
“The foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children.
“However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways.”
The Trump foundation has long been a subject of controversy. During the election process, general Eric Schneiderman directed the foundation to stop taking donations, saying it violated state law requiring charitable organisations that solicit outside donations to register with a state office.
“The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,” spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said.
Ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, said he was pleased to see Mr Trump is making efforts to settle potential conflicts of interest.
“He is headed in the right direction, but he has to reach the right destination, which is to divest of everything like Democratic and Republican ethics experts have said he must do,” Mr Cummings said.
“The presidency is probably the most difficult job in the world. Why would you want almost every decision you make to be questioned?
“You have more than 111 companies operating in 18 countries. That is a minefield, and sadly it will take away from his credibility.”
Many of the contributions to Trump’s foundation appear to be in lieu of payments to the President-elect himself. For example, the US program Comedy Central donated $400,000 after Mr Trump appeared on one of its celebrity roasts.
Trump has also said his son’s charity would stop raising money, something he believes is a “ridiculous shame”.
No timeline has been given for the ending of the foundation.