Press secretary Sean Spicer said he did not know whether President Donald Trump had withdrawn any money from his businesses yet. | AP Photo White House acknowledges Trump can withdraw money from businesses But press secretary Sean Spicer says he doesn’t know whether the president has withdrawn any money yet — or if he’d make such information public.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer acknowledged on Monday that President Donald Trump can withdraw money from his businesses at any time, but he declined to say whether Trump would make such withdrawals public.

ProPublica reported earlier on Monday that a February change to legal documents governing Trump’s trust allows him to receive money from the businesses without disclosing it to the public.


Asked about the issue at the White House press briefing, Spicer acknowledged Trump can withdraw money under the arrangement that separated the president from leading his businesses but left his sons in charge.

But he said he was not aware of any change in the policy, contradicting the report by the Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit, which Spicer called a “left-wing blog.”

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“That’s frankly part of the point of setting it up,” Spicer said. He said he did not know whether Trump had withdrawn any money from his businesses yet. “I’m not aware that there was ever a change in the trust.”

Trump’s business set-up has raised concerns among ethics experts, as he refused to fully divest himself from his sprawling business empire. The company is currently being run by his eldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., and is planning to expand domestically.