Donald Trump’s bizarre hotel opening proved he’s in this for himself
Was Donald Trump’s stop in Washington, DC, to open his new hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue a campaign event? It’s hard to say — because it’s hard to say if Trump is even still running for president.
Less than two weeks before Election Day, lagging Hillary Clinton in the polls, Trump is more determined to squeeze every last ounce of publicity from his presidential run than he is to get voters to the polls. He’s thinking past Election Day, and the future he’s envisioning isn’t in the Oval Office.
“With the notable exception of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this is the most coveted piece of real estate in Washington, the best location,” Trump said.
The ribbon-cutting at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, had all the trappings of a campaign event. Secret Service agents escorted bomb-sniffing dogs across new carpets. Reporters mobbed Newt Gingrich and Jeff Sessions. Trump promised to make America great again, spinning his new hotel, once a crumbling historic landmark, into a bizarre metaphor for the nation itself.
Clinton is making her closing argument. Trump is making infomercials.
If Trump cared about the presidency, he’d be in Ohio
Trump tried to downplay his stop in DC. “We’re going to a lobby, we’re going to cut a ribbon, and we’re going to North Carolina!” he said at the end of his brief remarks. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway compared his brief detour to Clinton taking time off the trail to prepare for the debate.
The Trump hotel has been unofficially “open” since September 12. (Trump visited the site then, too.) There’s no reason a formal grand opening couldn’t have waited two more weeks. Or rather, there’s one reason: On November 9, if current trends hold, Trump won’t be trailed by a pack of journalists broadcasting his every move to billions around the world.