(Reuters) - Lawyers for Donald Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. president has "absolute immunity" from a lawsuit by owners of the Cork Wine Bar in Washington, D.C., who claim that his ownership of a nearby hotel constitutes unfair competition.

Trump's lawyers, in seeking a dismissal of the lawsuit by Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts, said the president cannot be forced to close or divest the Trump International Hotel, located in the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue, or else resign his office.

The doctrine of absolute immunity "ensures that the President can focus on carrying out the obligations of his Office without the distraction of virtually limitless litigation whose costs he would personally bear," Trump's lawyers said in a court filing. "That doctrine forecloses this lawsuit."