Trump Taj Mahal In New Jersey Closes

Trump Taj Mahal, one of three Atlantic City casinos Donald Trump owned when his company suffered huge losses and filed for bankruptcy, has officially closed.

The casino closed Monday after its workers, including housekeepers, bartenders and bellmen, went on strike beginning July 1, demanding health insurance and pension benefits.

“Currently the Taj is losing multi-millions a month, and now with this strike we see no path to profitability,” Tony Rodio, president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment, which operates the casino, said in a statement to Patch in August. “Unfortunately, we’ve reached the point where we will have to close.”

Trump's company, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, bought the Taj Mahal in 1988 while it was under construction, largely with junk bonds that carried an incredibly high interest rate. The casino opened in 1990 to much fanfare — at the time it was the tallest building in New Jersey, and Trump claimed it was the largest casino in the world.

His company also owned the now-shuttered Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel and was forced to sell Trump Marina Hotel Casino five years ago. The three hotel casinos were essentially in direct competition with each other but all owned by the same company.

Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy a year later.

As the financial losses piled up, Trump was forced to take his hotels and casino company public. Then, in 2004, the company filed for its third bankruptcy, the terms of which mandated that Trump step away from operating the business and the company be renamed to Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Trump Taj Mahal was still owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts, the new name for Trump's old company, but Trump himself is not involved in the business. The company is now a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises, which is owned by Carl Icahn.

You can read more about Trump's history in Atlantic City here.

Image via Jesper Rautell Balle, used under Creative Commons