Trump paused campaign for Hotel launch read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/1425-trump-paused-campaign-for-hotel-launch

But the Republican nominee wasn't exactly taking time off the campaign trail. Instead, he used his private business to prop up his campaign.

Donald Trump stepped off the campaign trail Wednesday to promote his new hotel here, less than two weeks from Election Day and trailing in the polls.

Quickly turned the corporate-themed ribbon-cutting into a campaign event, albeit far from any of the battleground states he needs to win to clinch the presidency.

"Today is a metaphor for what we can accomplish for this country," Trump said Wednesday in one of the hotel's ballrooms where six chandeliers hanged from the ceiling.

He immediately sought to dispel the criticism that he is spending time promoting his business rather than campaigning for votes in the crucial final stretch, saying that "as soon as we're finished cutting the ribbon," he was taking off for several key swing states.

And after touting the property as "the most coveted piece of real estate in Washington," Trump quickly sought to meld his hotel promotion with his campaign message.

But Trump used the hotel as more than just a stand-in for how he would govern as he appeared to tie the successful completion of his hotel project to the uphill battle his campaign faces as he urged voters to embrace his outsider campaign.

The Trump campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether the campaign had paid for the costs of the event, as would be required under campaign finance law.

But with less than two weeks until Election Day, some have questioned Trump's decision to attend a business event in Washington instead of chasing votes in one of the crucial swing states where he is trailing in the polls.

 

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway addressed that criticism Wednesday morning, arguing that the "pit stop" would also serve to highlight the business successes Trump says qualify him to be president.