Donald Trump is no longer the chairman of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. (he was the chairman during multiple previous bankruptcies), but it’s nevertheless amusing to me that a company bearing his name is once again declaring bankruptcy.
Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the company founded by Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy, putting a fifth Atlantic City casino in danger of closing if it fails to negotiate concessions with union members.
The company, which owns two properties in the struggling New Jersey resort town, listed assets and liabilities of as much as $500 million each in a Chapter 11 filing today in Wilmington, Delaware. Its Trump Plaza is set to cease operations on Sept. 16. The Trump Taj Mahal may also shut in November, the company said. It’s the company’s third bankruptcy.
What’s not amusing is the fact that 2,800 employees will lose their jobs if Trump’s Taj Mahal is forced to close. And, as you might imagine, company executives say unions and taxes are to blame even while they allowed their business to dry up in the face of competition.
It’s a convenient scape-goat to say that unions and taxes have created a “unsustainable cost structure” which has only become unsustainable because you can’t attract enough customers.
Now that things have gone from bad to worse and Atlantic City may be beyond saving, Governor Chris Christie is meeting with local leaders to decide what to do about it. And given what we know about Christie’s shady dealings with the Port Authority and public investment, I would have absolutely no confidence if I were a local resident.
Has anyone managed to win the presidency while an iconic city in their home state collapsed?