Donald Trump says of long-awaited Washington DC hotel opposite White House: ‘It seems very insignificant now’

His remark almost seemed to dismiss a highly-anticipated family business venture and which he had talked so much about during the campaign trail

Mr Trump said he was to jet off on the campaign trail as soon as this event was over (Joe Raedle/Getty )

The campaign trail has been one long photo opportunity for both the candidates, but it has also been a very long marketing campaign for the opening of the Trump Hotel in Washington DC.

Consistent talk at rallies about the use of the finest marble at the new hotel has been thrown at supporters from Las Vegas to New Hampshire. While voters wanted proof that Mr Trump was a powerful and successful businessman, all they apparently needed to hear was that the new hotel was “under budget and ahead of schedule”.

Two years after the initial announcement, the ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday 25 October at the site of the old Post Office on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mr Trump lined up on stage alongside his eldest daughter, Ivanka, and his two sons, Donald Jr and Eric.

Ivanka Trump, an executive at the Trump Organisation, was first of the family to take the stage, elaborating on the "intricate stone work", the "marble wainscoting throughout", the 16 to 24 foot ceilings and the 1200 windows, each of which had been painstakingly restored.

“My father trained me not to see things as they are, but for what they can be,” she said.

She insisted that, despite Mr Trump’s critics’ attempts to “discredit [her] father’s business”, she said there were thousands of people who worked for her father and still stood by him.

It was a long and fine introduction to the man himself, her "inspriation" and the much admired businessman. Yet his first comment to the crowds seemed to knock the wind out of their sails.

“It [his real estate business] seems very insignificant compared to what we’re doing now,” were Mr Trump’s opening words on the stage, alluding to the presidential election.

He said the hotel, nonetheless, was an example to the government of how to “get things done”.

He used the stage as a prime opportunity to continue his presidential message, pointing to infrastructure, schools, Obamacare and hospitals being in a “state of disrepair” - all contrary to his new hotel.

“When I travel the country, all I see is untapped potential waiting to be set free,” he told the room, which was packed with reporters.

The Trump Organisation has a lot to prove after speculation arose that the Trump brand was suffering due to Mr Trump’s campaign. Before the meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, all hotels in downtown Washington were fully booked except the Trump DC, which had to flog rooms at heavily discounted rates.

Mr Trump also thanked former house speaker and ally Newt Gingrich for an “incredible interview” with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly the previous evening, where Mr Gingrich had accused her of being “fascinated with sex” after Ms Kelly called Mr Trump a “sexual predator”.

Mr Trump recently told Ms Kelly on Fox News that if he lost the election, running for president would have been “a total waste of time, energy and money”.

He has previously said that, one way or another, he would get to Pennsylvania Avenue, as the new hotel was opposite the White House.

Yet if Mr Trump had been wearing a t-shirt at the ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, it would say: "I ran for president and all I got was 'the best hotel in Washington'".