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Donald Trump has spent decades building a business empire of hotels, golf courses and real estate across the world - something many see as an unprecedented conflict of interest for America's next President.

The billionaire has not committed to selling his businesses and is resisting the practice followed by previous US leaders - including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and both George W Bush and George HW Bush - to place investments in a blind trust, managed by an independent trustee.

Instead, the Republican says he plans to distance himself from the Trump Organization - of which he is president and chairman - by handing control to his children.

However, experts have raised concerns that this would not be distance enough.

While unelected officials are prohibited from holding stakes in assets that raise a conflict of interest, as President there is no legal requirement for Mr Trump to sell up.

Ken Gross, a former elections enforcement official and lawyer who has advised presidential candidates from both parties, was quoted in the Washington Post following the election result saying Mr Trump's entanglements were "troubling".

"He has investments in businesses in unfriendly countries and the businesses are often tied to those unfriendly governments. The obvious solution is to sell those interests."

In a Fox Business debate in January, Mr Trump claimed he wouldn't "care less about my company", if elected, because "I wouldn't care about anything but our country".

But that did not stop him taking advantage of opportunities to promote the brand in the run-up to the vote - taking time off from campaigning just two weeks before election day to open a new hotel about a mile from the White House in Washington.

In a CNN Money article published at the beginning of the year, Richard Painter, law professor at the University of Minnesota and former ethics attorney for President George W Bush, said: "You rely on a president taking the advice of ethics lawyers to do everything possible - including the sale of assets - to avoid a conflict of interest.

"You want the president to keep up with appearances."

Mr Trump has refused to release his tax returns -  - so the full extent of the potential conflict of interest is unknown.

But for a businessman whose name is his brand, experts say it is unlikely his business interests could ever be kept completely separate from his politics.

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