Donald Trump has shut down four businesses linked to Saudi Arabia since he was elected the next president of the United States.
The president-elect launched eight businesses connected to the kingdom during his campaign. Four of these were shut down several months ago and the remaining four have been shut down since Nov. 8, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Trump's team insists that there are no deals moving forward in Saudi Arabia.
"I’m not aware of any deal in Saudi Arabia," the Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten told the Associated Press.
"I’ll go further: there is no deal in Saudi Arabia."
Trump's daughter Ivanka, who serves as an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, expressed interest in expanding the company's Middle East portfolio last year.
She told Hotelier Middle East that Dubai was a top priority but that projects in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were also being considered.
“We haven’t made a final decision in any of the markets, but we have many very compelling deals in each of them."
In November, a report by The Washington Post revealed that Trump had launched the eight companies.
The companies were registered in August of last year, shortly after Trump officially announced his presidential bid.
The president-elect routinely criticized his opponent, Hillary Clinton, because her foundation – The Clinton Foundation – previously accepted millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.
Trump said these countries "treat women horribly" and "kill gays." But, while he used this as an attack on Clinton, he also praised Saudis for spending tens of millions of dollars on his luxury apartments saying, "Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much."
Many critics of Trump have pointed to his global business empire as a conflict of interest for his future role as President.
In November, it was revealed that Bahrain had booked Trump's hotel in Washington D.C. for it's annual national day gathering. Previously the event took place at the Ritz Carlton. This led many to suggest the kingdom was "currying favor" with the president-elect.
But since the news broke, Trump promised that "legal documents are being crafted" which take him "completely out of business operations." He said further details will be announced in a press conference on Dec. 15.
Traditionally, a U.S. president sells their business interests or puts them in a "blind trust" before taking office.
Trump previously said he will be handing over control of his companies to his children. At the same time, he has expressed a desire for his children to be intimately involved in his administration. Trump's daughter Ivanka has already sat in on meetings with foreign heads of state since the election.
Trump has insisted that the law is "totally" on his side. But he told the New York Times: "They’ll say I have a conflict because we just opened a beautiful hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, so every time somebody stays at that hotel, if they stay because I’m president, I guess you could say it’s a conflict of interest."