Spicer on Trump going to hotel: 'Shouldn't be a shocker'

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to spend time at his Washington, D.C., hotel does not represent a move to profit off the presidency and does not blur the lines between his business and his administration, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday.

Spicer was asked during a news conference how to square Trump’s separation from his business with his decision to dine at Trump International Hotel on Thursday evening.


“I think that’s pretty smart,” Spicer said of Trump’s decision. “I think the idea that he’s going to his own hotel shouldn’t be a shocker. It’s a beautiful place, it’s somewhere that he’s very proud of, and I think it’s symbolic of the kind of government that he’s going to run.”

Spicer noted that the hotel was completed under budget, comparing that to the transition effort, which he said also came in 20 percent under budget.

“It’s an absolutely stunning hotel,” Spicer said. “I encourage you to go there if you haven’t been by.”

“I don’t think the idea that President-elect Trump is having a reception at Trump Hotel should be a shocker to anybody,” he added.

The hotel barred press during inauguration week, as of Wednesday.

Spicer told POLITICO after the news conference that "contrary to rumors," the hotel is open to the public, including the media.

That contradicts a statement from the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, who wrote Wednesday: “Media is not allowed in this week in respect of the privacy of our guests.”

