GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a campaign event at Trump's hotel in Washington D.C. | M. Scott Mahaskey Trump kicks off 'birther' press spectacle by promoting his hotel

Donald Trump kicked off a campaign event Friday at which he is expected to finally concede that President Barack Obama was born in the United States by bragging about the newly opened hotel hosting it.

“Nice hotel,” Trump said at the start of the event, ostensibly a celebration of American veterans. “Under budget and ahead of schedule. Isn't that nice? No, it is a great honor. This is our brand-new ballroom. You only see a small piece of it because we have it broken down, but this is the hotel is completed. We will be having our opening ceremony in October and it's going to be something very special. It's such an honor to have our first event.”


Trump then said it was “such an honor” to have the hotel’s first event be hosted in honor of Medal of Honor winners, a pair of which were standing behind the GOP nominee. He then paused to turn around and shake their hands before continuing to lavish praise on his hotel, a renovation of the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C.

“It is such an honor to have this particular ceremony be the first ceremony because I think when the hotel opens officially, it will be one of the great hotels anywhere in the world and I want to thank the GSA, general services. They have been spectacular,” Trump said.

“All of the workers, all of the construction folks, all of the managers, the hotel staff, amazing, amazing how good our country can do when we want to do it,” he continued. “But we have put in tremendous amounts of work and energy and money and I really believe, I said this will be the best hotel in Washington. I think it may be one of the great hotels anywhere in the world. That's the way it turned out.”

Trump is expected to address the “birther” issue after his campaign released a statement a day earlier saying that the GOP nominee is finally convinced that Obama was born in America, a point Trump long contested. But the Manhattan billionaire refused to say as much during a TV interview Friday morning, preferring instead to build up the suspense for his hotel event later in the day.

The hotel, which has been embroiled in controversy since Trump launched his presidential bid last year, reportedly cost $200 million to overhaul.

Several chefs who had planned to open restaurants in the newly renovated space pulled out of the project, citing Trump's comments about undocumented Mexican immigrants.

The Trump Organization has also been embroiled in a legal fight with the city of Washington, D.C. over his expected tax bill.