lima, peru<u+2014>president barack obama said he advised donald trump, the new york businessman who will succeed him, to secure a strong white house counsel to avoid any possible conflicts of interest generated by the president-elect<u+2019>s global business interests. mr. obama, speaking at a news conference at the end of a summit of asia-pacific leaders in peru , also suggested that mr. trump should completely distance himself from his far-flung corporate operations. <u+201c>when i met with the president-elect, i suggested to him that having a strong white house counsel that could provide clear guide posts and rules would benefit him and benefit his team because it would eliminate a lot of ambiguity,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>i think it will be up to him to make determinations about how he wants to approach it. i know what worked for us.<u+201d> the issue of conflicts of interest given mr. trump<u+2019>s widespread business entanglements has emerged as a key question over his transition into the presidency.<u+00a0>they gained headlines this weekend when several news outlets reported that the president-elect last week met with business associates from india . jason miller, a trump transition spokesman, said the family is <u+201c>working through that with the<u+00a0>lawyers<u+00a0>to make sure that everything is being done properly.<u+201d> the transition team didn't immediately response to mr. obama<u+2019>s remarks in peru. one of mr. trump<u+2019>s primary campaign attorneys, donald f. mcgahn ii, has advised elected officials and national parties and he has been among those meeting with the president-elect in the last week, as seen by the roster of officials entering the president-elect<u+2019>s offices in new york. mr. mcgahn is a former chairman of the federal election commission, which oversee campaign finance issues; the justice department deals with conflicts of interest for elected officials. noting that he had far fewer assets than mr. trump, mr. obama said when he entered the white house in 2009 he decided to liquidate assets <u+201c>that might raise questions about how it would influence policy.<u+201d> he said he had his accountant put much of his money in treasury bills <u+201c>just because it simplified my life.<u+201d> <u+201c>i did not have to worry about the complexities of whether a decision i made might inadvertently benefit me,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s consistent with the broader approach that we<u+2019>ve taken throughout my administration.<u+201d> he credited his approach with his serving eight years in the white house without a major scandal about his personal holdings. mr. obama joked that his lawyers have advised his staff to avoid anything that sounds like it might be fun. <u+201c>early on in the administration there would be questions about could a staff person go to this conference or what should they do about this gift that was provided,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>i think it was maybe our first general counsel who was responsible for setting up our guidelines and rules inside the white house that said if it sounds like it would be fun,<u+00a0>then you can<u+2019>t do it. that<u+2019>s a general test.<u+201d> write to carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com
barack obama offers donald trump advice on avoiding conflicts of interest - wsj
carol e. lee