Trump Taj Mahal Breaking News
Everything must go at the Trump Taj Mahal liquidation sale. The troubled Atlantic City property closed in the fall of 2016, but Thursday morning it opened its doors again for customers to clear the place of everything from the poker tables to this tapestry to the famous chandeliers from Austria. Those do not come cheap:
$35k will get you one of these Austrian chandeliers at the Trump Taj Mahal liquidation sale. Got room? @6abcpic.twitter.com/7cxj2xCErg
Donald Trump talks to the media on opening day at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. The casino floor is in the background. Press of Atlantic City photo by Vernon Ogrodnek.
— Jeff Chirico (@JeffChirico) July 6, 2017Although some more affordable chandeliers are available.
Chandeliers and art among the many items up for grabs at Taj Mahal liquidation sale. @NBCPhiladelphiapic.twitter.com/mmCCOjKbrz
— Ted Greenberg (@tedgreenbergNBC) July 6, 2017And pretty much anything else that one probably never, ever thought he or she wanted to own, ever:
Leopard claw bench: $65. This amazing canopy bed with mirrors on top: priceless pic.twitter.com/jOuQWmVxaf
— Joe Hernandez (@byJoeHernandez) July 6, 2017$650 for a poker table #trumptajmahal liquidation sale @News12NJ@JeremySettlepic.twitter.com/Ck5zxs5TXU
— Jim Murdoch News12NJ (@ReporterJim) July 6, 2017More items for sale at the #trumptajmahal liquidation @News12NJpic.twitter.com/3eyjLYNcFm
— Jim Murdoch News12NJ (@ReporterJim) July 6, 2017Hotel room furnishings at Taj Mahal liquidation sale. @NBCPhiladelphiapic.twitter.com/iFcjqIywNj
— Ted Greenberg (@tedgreenbergNBC) July 6, 2017The Trump opened his Taj Mahal in 1990, to great fanfare, but about a year later declared bankruptcy when the casino couldn’t make enough money to finance its debts. It faced financial troubles, mostly notably in 2009 and 2014, and finally the casino shut down in October of last year. In March 2017, Trump investor pal and then-owner Carl Icahn sold the property to the Hard Rock for $50 million. So now it must be cleaned out of its kitschy wares.
Luckily, the liquidators seemed to have plenty of customers on day one of the sale, which will run daily for 60 days or until the property is cleaned out. As the saying goes, one casino’s trash …
Hundreds are lined up outside the former Trump Taj Mahal. A liquidation sale begins today to clear the casino before it becomes a Hard Rock. pic.twitter.com/kqQ5455TSu
Trump Taj Mahal Breaking News
— Michael Burke (@michaelburke47) July 6, 2017Checking out of the #trumptajmahal liquidation sale. @News12NJpic.twitter.com/ZOjLb8qNGT
— Jim Murdoch News12NJ (@ReporterJim) July 6, 2017Items being bought at Taj Mahal liquidation sale @ThePressofAC#acpresspic.twitter.com/jYPjyasJE7
— Craig Matthews (@acpressmatthews) July 6, 2017Folks waiting to check out at Taj Mahal liquidation sale. @NBCPhiladelphia@CydneyLongNBC10 @cazarest62 @brian4NYpic.twitter.com/6HwmM7d4Ue
— Ted Greenberg (@tedgreenbergNBC) July 6, 2017The only items that can’t be purchased are apparently slot machines, card tables, and anything that still has the name “Trump” on it.
And in case you’re worried that you might miss out on your chance to get an old bed that probably thousands of people slept in, you’re in luck: As one of the workers running the sale instructed the crowd, “If it’s behind me, I would say we would have about at least 900 of everything that you see here.”
EVERYTHING MUST GO! We are at the #TajMahal liquidation sale.. the now defunct @realDonaldTrump hotel in #AtlanticCitypic.twitter.com/tPzTZxie6m
— Henry Rosoff (@HenryRosoff) July 6, 2017Donald Trump wrote 'The Art Of The Deal,' but it was Florida's Seminole Indians who made a truly amazing deal to buy the opulent casino built by the man who is now president of the United States.
The Trump Taj Mahal, the Atlantic City, N.J., casino that the real estate mogul built for $1.2 billion in 1990, went for 4 cents on the dollar when it was sold in March. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday revealed the price billionaire Carl Icahn got from Hard Rock International for the shuttered casino: $50 million. The sale was publicized at the time, though the purchase price wasn't.
Trump Taj Mahal Money Laundering
Trump dubbed the Taj Mahal casino 'the eighth wonder of the world' when it opened. He cut most of his ties with Atlantic City in 2009, though he retained a small stake in its parent company in return for the right to use his name.
That remaining stake was wiped out last year when Icahn acquired the parent company, Trump Entertainment Resorts, from bankruptcy. Icahn and Atlantic City's main casino workers' union were unable to agree on a new contract to restore health insurance and pension benefits, and the union went on strike in July.
In October, Icahn shut the casino down, saying he saw no way to make a profit from it and lamenting losses of $350 million on it.
Icahn retains ownership of the former Trump Plaza casino, which shut down in September 2014.
Hard Rock, which is owned by Florida's Seminole Indian tribe, plans to reopen the Taj Mahal in 2018 after scrubbing it of its minarets and its ubiquitous mentions of Trump. Hard Rock says it plans to spend $375 million on a renovation that will draw on the world's largest collection of music memorabilia. Hotel guests will even be lent Fender electric guitars to play in their rooms.
Aside from seeing an opportunity in a market that seems to be stabilizing after the closing of five of its 12 casinos since 2014, the deal makes sense in another way for Hard Rock: The firm has partnered with Meadowlands Racetrack operator Jeff Gural on plans for a casino resort in East Rutherford, just outside New York City, if New Jersey voters ever amend the state constitution to allow casino gambling beyond Atlantic City. (A referendum to allow it was soundly defeated in November).
Although new legislation will presumably be written for the next attempt at casino expansion, last year's rules gave owners of existing Atlantic City casinos first crack at one of two new licenses that would have been created had the ballot measure passed. With its ownership of the former Taj Mahal, Hard Rock would be well-positioned for a run at a northern New Jersey casino license.
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