How Donald
Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions
ATLANTIC
CITY — The Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel is now closed, its windows clouded over
by sea salt. Only a faint outline of the gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P
remains visible on the exterior of what was once this city’s premier casino.
Not far away, the
long-failing Trump Marina Hotel Casino was sold at a major loss five years ago
and is now known as the Golden Nugget.
At the nearly deserted
eastern end of the boardwalk, the Trump Taj Mahal, now under new ownership, is
all that remains of the casino empire Donald J. Trump assembled here more than
a quarter-century ago. Years of neglect show: The carpets are frayed and
dust-coated chandeliers dangle above the few customers there to play the penny
slot machines.
On the presidential
campaign trail, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, often boasts of
his success in Atlantic City, of how he outwitted the Wall Street firms that
financed his casinos and rode the value of his name to riches. A central
argument of his candidacy is that he would bring the same business prowess to
the Oval Office, doing for America what he did for his companies.
“Atlantic City fueled a
lot of growth for me,” Mr. Trump said in an interview in May, summing up his
25-year history here. “The money I took out of there was incredible.”
His
audacious personality and opulent properties brought attention — and countless
players — to Atlantic City as it sought to overtake Las Vegas as the country’s
gambling capital. But a close examination of regulatory reviews, court records
and security filings by The New York Times leaves little doubt that Mr. Trump’s
casino business was a protracted failure. Though he now says his casinos were
overtaken by the same tidal wave that eventually slammed this seaside city’s
gambling industry, in reality he was failing in Atlantic City long before
Atlantic City itself was failing.
From The New York Times, read it HERE
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