Donald Trump Has Now Resigned From His Five British Businesses

Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images

Donald Trump resigned as director of five British businesses just hours before his inauguration as President of the United States.

Had he not done so, he would have been not only responsible for leading the world's most powerful country but also legally obliged under UK legal systems to vouch for the financial health of a series of Scottish golf courses.

Among other things he shared responsibility for were ensuring the preparation of financial statements, approving them as giving a "true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and company", accounting for their profit and loss, and filing accurate paperwork.

The companies – which largely manage Trump's golfing interests – include Golf Recreation Scotland Ltd, SLC Turnberry Ltd, DT Connect Europe Ltd, Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd, and Nitto World Ltd.

All the businesses have other active directors who shared the responsibilities, often his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr, although until hours before his inauguration the president-elect's name was still listed.

It is possible to resign as a director and still retain a shareholding in the business, although until the final hours before his inauguration it appeared Trump had yet to do this.

Trump held a press conference on 11 January in which he pledged to hand over direct control of his business interests before the inauguration, posing in front of folders of paperwork that supposedly included the documents that transferred control of his companies to his sons.

Sheri Dillon, an attorney at Morgan Lewis, told reporters that Trump was taking "extraordinary steps" to divest control of the Trump Organisation, which comprises hundreds of individual companies.

"If you all go and take a look at his financial disclosure statement, the pages and pages and pages of entities have all been or will be conveyed to a trust prior to January 20," she said.

"Through the trust agreement, he has relinquished leadership and management of the Trump Organisation to his sons Don and Eric and a longtime Trump executive, Allen Weisselberg. Together, Don, Eric and Allen will have the authority to manage the Trump Organisation and will make decisions for the duration of the presidency without any involvement whatsoever by President-elect Trump."

She pledged that "President-elect Trump as well as Don, Eric and Allen are committed to ensuring that the activities of the Trump organisation are beyond reproach and cannot be perceived to be exploitive of the office of the presidency. President-elect Trump will resign from all officer and other positions he holds with the Trump Organisation entities."