U.S president-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he intends to dissolve his charitable foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, to avoid any conflict with his role as president.

"Because I will be devoting so much time and energy to the presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world, I don't want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest," he said.

The president-elect added that he is proud of the money the foundation raised for organizations in need and said it has operated at essentially no cost for decades, with all of the money going to charity.

"The foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children," Trump stated. "However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways."

Trump said he's directed his counsel to take the necessary steps to implement the dissolution.

The revelation comes a day after Trump lamented the fact that his son Eric would be stepping away from his own charitable foundation due to conflicts of interest.

Attorney general investigation

A 2015 tax return posted on the non-profit monitoring website GuideStar shows the Donald J. Trump Foundation acknowledged that it used money or assets in violation of IRS regulations — not only during 2015, but in prior years.

Those regulations prohibit self-dealing by the charity — broadly defined as using its money or assets to benefit Trump, his family, his companies or substantial contributors to the foundation.

The tax filing doesn't provide details on the violations.

Whether Trump benefited from the foundation's spending has been the subject of an investigation by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

In September, Schneiderman disclosed that his office has been investigating Trump's charity to determine whether it has abided by state laws governing non-profits.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, seen here at a news conference in February, directed the Donald J. Trump Foundation to stop taking donations in October (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

In October, he directed the foundation to stop taking donations because he said it violated state law requiring charitable organizations to register with a state office. It complied with the order and stopped its fundraising activities.

The order followed a series of reports in the Washington Post that suggested improprieties by the foundation, including using its funds to settle legal disputes involving Trump businesses, and no records of Trump personally contributing to the foundation since 2008 until one donation earlier this year.

The New York attorney general's office said in October the Trump Foundation had a registration for an organization with assets in New York, but the law requires a different registration for those that solicit more than $25,000 US a year from the public.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office said on Saturday that Trump cannot shutter the foundation while the investigation is ongoing.

"The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete," Amy Spitalnick said. She would not comment on expected timing for completing the investigation.

The Washington Post's investigative reporter David Fahrenthold on his series exposing Donald Trump's lack of charitable donations to his own foundation. 8:10

Documents obtained by The Associated Press in September showed Schneiderman's scrutiny of The Donald J. Trump Foundation dated back to at least June, when his office formally questioned the donation made by the charity to a group supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi personally solicited the money during a 2013 phone call that came after her office received complaints from former students claiming they were scammed by Trump University, Trump's get-rich-quick real estate seminars.

The Trump Foundation cheque arrived just days after Bondi's office told a newspaper it was reviewing a lawsuit against Trump University filed by Schneiderman. Bondi's office never sued Trump, though she denies his donation played any role in that decision.

Trump later paid a $2,500 US fine over the cheque from his foundation because it violated federal law barring charities from making political contributions.