The lawsuit cites the US constitution's emoluments clause, which says no federal official should receive a gift or a fee from a foreign government. The suit –the first of its kind - claims that PresidentTrump is ‘flagrantly violating the constitution’ but is denied by The White House.

First in history of the US

The Attorneys General for the District of Columbia and Maryland, Karl Racine and Brian Frosh said: ‘Never in the history of this country have we had a president with these kinds of extensive business entanglements or a president who refused to adequately distance himself from their holdings.’

Similar action by non-governmental body

The move is first of its kind because there has never been a businessman-turned-president in the ilk of Mr Trump. However, a non-governmental organisation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), lodged a similar legal action at the turn of the year.  Yet, the Justice Department on Friday said those plaintiffs did not suffer in any way and there were no grounds for the suit. The department also said it was unconstitutional to sue the president in his official capacity.

Conflict of interest allegations

Since taking office in January, Mr Trump has turned day-to-day control of his real estate empire and other assets over to a trust managed by his adult sons. But he has not sold them off as critics said he should do in order to avoid conflicts of interest. ‘The emoluments clauses are a firewall against presidential corruption and the one thing we know about President Trump is he understands the value of walls,’ Mr Frosh said, referring to the president's plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. ‘This is one he can't climb over and one he can't dig underneath.’

Injunction sought

The lawsuit will ask for a court injunction blocking Mr Trump from accepting foreign money. The clause reads: ‘no person holding any office of profit or trust’ may accept ‘any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state’.