Donald Trump

NEW YORK — Donald Trump says he is leaving his famed business behind.

Well, sort of.

That is the muddled message from the president-elect’s news conference Wednesday about plans to separate himself from his business while in office to avoid conflicts of interest.

Trump and his lawyer portrayed his moves as extraordinary. Ethics lawyers who’ve worked with previous presidents in both parties had other opinions: uninspiring, inadequate.

The clash of views reflects different ideas of what “separation” should mean and how far Trump should go to avoid the desire for private profit coming before the pursuit of public good.

Trump says handing over management control, stopping international deals and appointing a watchdog of sorts to monitor conflicts is enough, and far more than required under law. His critics say that he should do what most modern presidents have done: sell his business holdings completely.

Trump outlined three parts to allay conflicts.

First, he said he will put his business assets in a trust and hand over management control of his company to his two adult sons and a longtime Trump Organization executive. Second, he has vowed to wall himself off from communications about his company, including discussing it with his children. Third, he promised no new deals overseas. The company also will appoint an ethics officer who would have to approve any deals in the U.S. that would raise concerns about conflicts.

Trump announced several smaller moves, like a liquidation of his securities portfolio. He also said he would donate any profits from foreign government payments at his hotels to the U.S. Treasury.

At the news conference, Sheri Dillon, an attorney who helped prepare the Trump plan, called the steps “extraordinary.”

“President-elect Trump wants there to be no doubt in the minds of the American public that he is completely isolating himself from his business interests,” she said.

Ethics lawyers who have worked for presidents in both parties say the plan leaves Trump far too open to shape regulations, taxes and foreign policy to enrich himself, and for other people to try to curry favor with him. He has hotels and resorts in the U.S. that can be sued in U.S. courts and must follow labor regulations. As president, he will appoint people with big influence over those areas.

Foreign governments could create plenty of trouble, too. They could seek to influence him by rewarding or punishing his business interests in their countries. Trump has struck deals for hotels, residential towers and resorts in South Korea, the Philippines, Uruguay, Turkey and many other countries.

Even if Trump always acts in the public interest, these legal experts say, there will be damage. Rightly or wrongly, people will harbor doubts about the real motives behind U.S. policy, and all the second-guessing could compromise the moral authority of the office of the president.