Trump Entertainment files for bankruptcy

Casino group founded by Donal Trump owns two properties in struggling Altantic City

The Trump Taj Mahal, left, the Showboat Atlantic City Hotel and Casino, centre, and Revel Atlantic City stand in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Once the east coast’s gambling hub, Atlantic City has suffered as casinos opened in neighboring states including Pennsylvania and New York after they legalised gambling or expanded betting to increase tax revenue. Photograph: Ron Antonelli/Bloomberg
The Trump Taj Mahal, left, the Showboat Atlantic City Hotel and Casino, centre, and Revel Atlantic City stand in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Once the east coast’s gambling hub, Atlantic City has suffered as casinos opened in neighboring states including Pennsylvania and New York after they legalised gambling or expanded betting to increase tax revenue. Photograph: Ron Antonelli/Bloomberg

Trump Entertainment Resorts, the company founded by Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, putting a fifth Atlantic City casino in danger of closing. 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 September 16th. The Trump Taj Mahal may also shut in November, according to people familiar with the matter.

Three other casinos have closed in the city this year, including Caesars Entertainment’s Showboat and the bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel last week. A Taj Mahal shutdown would put another 2,800 employees out of work in a city already losing 5,200 casino jobs this month.

Governor Chris Christie and other local leaders held a summit yesterday to discuss Atlantic City's future after an expansion of gambling in neighboring states ate into what was once the only legal market on the East Coast.

Donald Trump has no active role managing the company.

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