in the grand ballroom of Trump International Hotel, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump (center) speaks, with his daughter Ivanka Trump by his side, talks about the grand opening of their family's latest property, Trump International Hotel - Old Post Office, in Washington, DC on October 26, 2016. The event was closed to the public, and included VIP guests and employees of Trump. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump and his family have long made the Trump brand a top priority for his business — and continued doing so even as he sought and won the White House.

Analyses of domestic and international trademark applications databases show that Trump, his company and his family have applied for upward of 1,000 trademarks since the late 1980s.

A large chunk of those applications, about 200, were filed since 2015, the year that Trump, a real estate mogul and reality TV star, announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. He launched his run in June of that year.

Around half of those more recent applications were filed in China — and many of those were brand protections sought by the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, who also is a senior White House advisor.

Ivanka Trump Marks LLC in 2017 sought trademark protections in categories that included toys, alcoholic beverages and foods in China.

At that time, the United States government was — as it continues to be — engaged in a large trade war with China at the direction of Trump.

In October 2018, Ivanka Trump — who three months earlier had said she was shutting down her personal clothing brand — won initial approval from the Chinese government for 16 new trademarks, which covered a range of products that included "voting machines."

Also in 2018, DTTM Operations LLC — an entity controlled by the Trump Organization — sought a "Trump Plaza" trademark in the Philippines. This year, DTTM Operations applied for a "Trump Card" trademark in the European Union.

Trump and his family's maintenance of trademarks and applications of trademarks, along with his seeking new trademarks while running for and winning the presidency, raise both ethical red flags and constitutional concerns, according to a public advocacy group, Democratic lawmakers and the Democratic National Committee.

Those concerns are certain to persist if Trump wins reelection next November and continues profiting from the trademark protections.

Daniel Wessel, deputy war room director at the Democratic National Committee, said, "Despite his promises, Donald Trump never fully separated himself from his company, which has continued to do business globally."

'His ongoing ties raise massive conflicts of interest and undermine his claims to an 'America First' agenda. Instead of putting the American people first, Trump has only put himself first," Wessel said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

Alan Garten, chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, which is being run by Trump's adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, provided CNBC with a prepared statement:

Like every other major international brand, the Trump Organization has been zealously protecting its intellectual property rights around the world for more than 20 years. Such efforts have particularly concentrated on so-called "first-to-file" countries where trademark infringement is rampant. In China, where some of the world's most recognized brands have had their intellectual property rights either stolen or held for ransom, the Trump Organization's efforts date back more than a decade. Indeed, prior to June of 2015, the company had successfully registered more than 70 trademarks just in China alone. Many of these registrations have been in key categories such as real estate services, real estate development, hotels, golf courses and entertainment. The company's most recent efforts to enforce its intellectual property rights merely seek to build on a foundation that was established years ago in order protect its valuable brand.

The trade publication World Trademark Review, in late October, reported that its analysis of Trump-related marks found applications for trademark in around 80 countries, and that 2016, the year of the presidential election, was the "single biggest year" for Trump trademark filings.

"Foreign [trademark] filings by entities related to Trump have slowed but not ceased since his inauguration," WTR reported.

A separate, more recent analysis obtained and reviewed by CNBC backs up WTR's findings.