diff --git a/docs/rules/no-trailing-spaces.md b/docs/rules/no-trailing-spaces.md
index 46f61fa6082..050e93c3953 100644
--- a/docs/rules/no-trailing-spaces.md
+++ b/docs/rules/no-trailing-spaces.md
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ This rule has an object option:
 
 * `"skipBlankLines": false` (default) disallows trailing whitespace on empty lines
 * `"skipBlankLines": true` allows trailing whitespace on empty lines
+* `"ignoreComments": false` (default) disallows trailing whitespace in comment blocks
+* `"ignoreComments": true` allows trailing whitespace in comment blocks
 
 ### skipBlankLines
 
@@ -43,3 +45,19 @@ var foo = 0;
 var baz = 5;
 //•••••
 ```
+
+### ignoreComments
+
+Examples of **correct** code for this rule with the `{ "ignoreComments": true }` option:
+
+```js
+/*eslint no-trailing-spaces: ["error", { "ignoreComments": true }]*/
+
+//foo•
+//•••••
+/**
+ *•baz
+ *••
+ *•bar
+ */
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js b/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js
index 471381f2461..b5d2f8d1b56 100644
--- a/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js
+++ b/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ module.exports = {
                 properties: {
                     skipBlankLines: {
                         type: "boolean"
+                    },
+                    ignoreComments: {
+                        type: "boolean"
                     }
                 },
                 additionalProperties: false
@@ -45,7 +48,8 @@ module.exports = {
             NONBLANK = `${BLANK_CLASS}+$`;
 
         const options = context.options[0] || {},
-            skipBlankLines = options.skipBlankLines || false;
+            skipBlankLines = options.skipBlankLines || false,
+            ignoreComments = typeof options.ignoreComments === "undefined" || options.ignoreComments;
 
         /**
          * Report the error message
@@ -72,6 +76,22 @@ module.exports = {
             });
         }
 
+        /**
+         * Given a list of comment nodes, return the line numbers for those comments.
+         * @param {Array} comments An array of comment nodes.
+         * @returns {number[]} An array of line numbers containing comments.
+         */
+        function getCommentLineNumbers(comments) {
+            const lines = new Set();
+
+            comments.forEach(comment => {
+                for (let i = comment.loc.start.line; i <= comment.loc.end.line; i++) {
+                    lines.add(i);
+                }
+            });
+
+            return lines;
+        }
 
         //--------------------------------------------------------------------------
         // Public
@@ -87,7 +107,10 @@ module.exports = {
                 const re = new RegExp(NONBLANK),
                     skipMatch = new RegExp(SKIP_BLANK),
                     lines = sourceCode.lines,
-                    linebreaks = sourceCode.getText().match(astUtils.createGlobalLinebreakMatcher());
+                    linebreaks = sourceCode.getText().match(astUtils.createGlobalLinebreakMatcher()),
+                    comments = sourceCode.getAllComments(),
+                    commentLineNumbers = getCommentLineNumbers(comments);
+
                 let totalLength = 0,
                     fixRange = [];
 
@@ -125,7 +148,10 @@ module.exports = {
                         }
 
                         fixRange = [rangeStart, rangeEnd];
-                        report(node, location, fixRange);
+
+                        if (!ignoreComments || !commentLineNumbers.has(location.line)) {
+                            report(node, location, fixRange);
+                        }
                     }
 
                     totalLength += lineLength;
diff --git a/tests/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js b/tests/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js
index 44a6ba5b62a..3cfcfda9718 100644
--- a/tests/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js
+++ b/tests/lib/rules/no-trailing-spaces.js
@@ -70,6 +70,18 @@ ruleTester.run("no-trailing-spaces", rule, {
             code: "let str = `${a}\n   \n${b}`;\n   \n   ",
             parserOptions: { ecmaVersion: 6 },
             options: [{ skipBlankLines: true }]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "// Trailing comment test. ",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: true }]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "/* \nTrailing comments test. \n*/",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: true }]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "#!/usr/bin/env node ",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: true }]
         }
     ],
 
@@ -416,6 +428,66 @@ ruleTester.run("no-trailing-spaces", rule, {
                     column: 8
                 }
             ]
+        },
+
+        // Tests for ignoreComments flag.
+        {
+            code: "var foo = 'bar'; ",
+            output: "var foo = 'bar';",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: true }],
+            errors: [
+                {
+                    message: "Trailing spaces not allowed.",
+                    type: "Program",
+                    line: 1,
+                    column: 17
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "// Trailing comment test. ",
+            output: "// Trailing comment test.",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: false }],
+            errors: [
+                {
+                    message: "Trailing spaces not allowed.",
+                    type: "Program",
+                    line: 1,
+                    column: 26
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "/* \nTrailing comments test. \n*/",
+            output: "/*\nTrailing comments test.\n*/",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: false }],
+            errors: [
+                {
+                    message: "Trailing spaces not allowed.",
+                    type: "Program",
+                    line: 1,
+                    column: 3
+                },
+                {
+                    message: "Trailing spaces not allowed.",
+                    type: "Program",
+                    line: 2,
+                    column: 24
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        {
+            code: "#!/usr/bin/env node ",
+            output: "#!/usr/bin/env node",
+            options: [{ ignoreComments: false }],
+            errors: [
+                {
+                    message: "Trailing spaces not allowed.",
+                    type: "Program",
+                    line: 1,
+                    column: 20
+                }
+            ]
         }
     ]
 });