TRUMP BEATS

lawsuit targeting business deals.

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump on Thursday escaped a constitutional showdown over the operation of his business empire, after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging he had flouted constitutional limits on benefits presidents are allowed from their financial dealings with foreign and domestic governments.

Trump, for example, hosts diplomats at his Washington hotel and collects overseas licensing fees for The Apprentice.

Trump’s refusal to divest his sprawling web of international real estate holdings and other business interests has fueled criticism that he’s miring the White House in conflicts of interest. The lawsuit, brought by an ethics watchdog group, is one of several accusing Trump of violating the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, a rarely invoked provision barring federal officeholders from taking gifts and payments from other governments without the consent of Congress.

U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan, ruling for the first time in the nation’s history on an emoluments complaint over a president’s business dealings, concluded that the issue doesn’t belong in court at this time.

“If Congress wishes to confront defendant over a perceived violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, it can take action,” Daniels said.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued Trump shortly after his inauguration in January. The ethics group had asked Daniels to order Trump to divest himself of properties that put him in violation of the emoluments provision.

The ruling is a setback but the group won’t drop the case, Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said Thursday in a statement. The ethics group’s lawyers are weighing their options, he added.