US President-elect Trump shuts down Saudi-linked companies

US President-elect Donald Trump reportedly shut down four of his companies linked to Saudi Arabia in the days after the election.

The Associated Press reports that corporate registrations in Delaware revealed the moves as Trump took steps to outline how he is going to avoid conflicts of interest with his business empire.

Trump Organization general counsel, Alan Garten described the closing of the companies as routine “housecleaning”, according to the news service, and said there was no existing Trump business venture in Saudi Arabia.

The four companies were among at least nine Trump has filed paperwork to dissolve since the election.

Although they only represent a fraction of the more than 500 under Trump’s holdings.

Previously Trump’s daughter Ivanka indicated the family’s hotels and resorts arm was considering expansion in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia named as one potential location.

During the campaign a company linked to Jeddah in its formal name was also one of eight created by Trump himself. Of these four were shut down months after being created and four were dissolved.

“I’m not aware of any deal in Saudi Arabia,” Garten told the AP. “I’ll go further, there is no deal in Saudi Arabia.”

Trump’s ties with the Middle East are complex. In recent years he was meant to build a number of hotel and tower projects in Dubai that failed to materialise following the 2008 financial crisis.

More recently he has partnered with local developer Damac Properties for a Trump branded golf course and villas.

Read: Dubai’s Damac glad it stuck with Trump, says he doesn’t ‘discriminate’

The AP suggested there was nothing preventing Trump from establishing new businesses or using his existing companies to expand in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere.

However, his family’s business dealings will come under much more scrutiny as he becomes US president.