LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Donald Trump says Mitt Romney's campaign needs to spend more money and flood the airwaves before Nov. 6th.
"They've got to be very, very smart," Trump said. "They need great commercials."
The remarks came during a press conference following Trump's address to students here at Liberty University, a private Evangelical Christian school established by the late pastor Jerry Falwell.
"He's been able to raise tremendous amounts of money," Trump said of Romney. "So hopefully that money's going to be spent really wisely on incredible media, incredible commercials," he added. "Because if they tell the facts, and if they tell the truth, they should win."
Pressed if he thought the Republican nominee is winning the race, Trump called polling "even" but said that he thinks Romney has time to recover.
"You know, a month and a half politically is eternity," he said.
Trump later told reporters that Romney's controversial "47%" remarks unearthed in a video last week tackled social issues that the United States will need to discuss in order for the economy to improve.
"A lot of people are saying that was a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said of the remarks.
Last week, Trump said on the TODAY show that Romney shouldn't apologize over the controversy.
Trump's address to students this morning was a mix of old-fashioned career advice and the sort of sharp attacks on President Obama's politics and background that have become Trump's political brand. Trump even seemed to take a shot at Obama's religion.
As he explained why he was so happy to visit the Liberty campus, Trump, who has been married three times, described himself as a "Christian, and a very proud Christian."
Then he added, after a pause: "And a real Christian. People are going to say, 'Gee, I wonder what he meant by that?'"
To students, he gave this advice: "Don't let people take advantage -- get even!"
He said the same goes for international politics.
Earlier he said the White House should be demanding 50% of Libya's oil production.
"They go out and kill our ambassador and other Americans, and guess where China gets a lot of its oil -- from Libya," Trump said, referring to the September 11th attack on the American mission in Eastern Libya that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens.
Introducing Trump, Liberty University's Chancellor Jerry Fallwell, JR. praised Trump's political style, calling him an influential leader.
"In 2011, after failed attempts by Sen. John McCain and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump single-handedly forced President Obama to release his birth certificate," Falwell said, spurring cheers.
School officials say 10,000 students attended Trump's speech at the University's Vines Center, and several thousand more watched a live feed in overflow rooms located in other campus buildings.
Officials say the speech was also made available over the web to the University's online student body, which numbers around 80,000.
Trump was joined on stage by a surprise guest: Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), who sat among school officials during the address.
Bachmann visited students here in late September last year, during her failed presidential run. She is the mother of a Liberty student.