Trumps vs Trump Taj Mahal: Hearing Date set

Once the biggest and largest grossing casino in Atlantic City, Trump Taj Mahal has fallen on hard times. The casino’s parent company, Trump Entertainment Resorts, has announced that the establishment will close by November 13th if no outside investors step in and save it. Assuming this does happen, the Taj Mahal may no longer have the “Trump” part because its original owner, Donald Trump, is suing to get his name off the casino.

The real estate mogul and reality TV star is now one step closer to making this happen after a hearing has been set for this Thursday, October 23rd. At this point, Donald and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, will present their case to the judge on why their name should be taken off the failing casino.

As part of an ongoing battle, Donald has stated all along that Trump Entertainment Resorts let the casino fall into such “disrepair” that it’s affecting his name and image. Ivanka agrees as she made the following statement to the press:

This is a very important step for us. It was pretty cut-and-dry. When we gave them a license to use our name, it was contingent on quality control and performance. They did not meet the high standards of luxury in every other asset in the Trump brand.

Ivanka refers to the fact that the Trumps lend their name to the Trump Entertainment group in exchange for a 10% stake in the company. Donald used to be the majority owner up until four bankruptcy proceedings wiped out most of his stake; he was then offered the 10% deal in exchange for keeping the name.

Trump Entertainment would like to hold on to this name in case they can keep their last Atlantic City-based casino open. Trump Plaza closed last month while Taj Mahal is on the chopping block, unless someone steps forward and purchases it. Billionaire Carl Icahn has expresses interest in doing so, but only if he can get major concessions such as the workers union agreeing to slashed salaries/health benefits and Atlantic City’s government offering property tax breaks.

As CBS New York reports, Donald Trump himself would like to rescue the casino from bankruptcy court if he can. However, he has a tall order ahead of him since the casino owes $285 million to Icahn and has struggled mightily over the past several years.