Eric Trump said his father’s presidency had complicated the company’s ability to start new deals. The company pledged not to pursue new foreign ventures, and it is vetting potential domestic deals to avoid controversy, retaining Bobby Burchfield, a Washington lawyer, to protect the Trumps from doing business with partners that might have conflicts of interest or checkered pasts.

Eric Trump, who has effectively assumed the role as the leading executive at the company, is also a much more cautious businessman than his father, people who work with the Trumps say.

“Donald is very aggressive, and Donald pushed it while he was active — and they don’t have Donald now,” said Phil Ruffin, a billionaire casino owner who partnered with the Trumps on the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. “The boys are doing as well as anybody could. I haven’t seen any difference, except they’re not really doing anything new.”

The difference in management styles partly reflects Eric Trump’s sensitivity to criticism of the company now that his father is in the White House. There is also the criminal investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller III, who may ultimately scrutinize aspects of the family business before he finishes his inquiry.

Since the sons took control of the company, the biggest new initiative has been the rollout of two domestic hotel brands, Scion Hotels and Resorts, a four-star line, and American Idea Hotels, a budget-friendly chain. The company recently posted websites for both chains.

But the Trumps have announced only one Scion business partner, the developers of the hotel here in Cleveland, a city of 12,000 about a two-hour drive from Memphis. The Trumps and their partners have delayed the project as they revised the construction plans.