New York – The palatial Trump Taj Mahal casino, which its namesake Donald Trump once called the eighth wonder of the world, closed its doors for good on Monday.
The casino and hotel in the US gambling hub of Atlantic City, New Jersey, announced its closure after a months-long strike of its employees. The facility had once employed 3,000 people.
The New York real estate tycoon and current Republican presidential candidate opened the casino in 1990 with great fanfare – pop legend Michael Jackson attended the event along with 75,000 fans.
Trump Taj Mahal casino – A file photo of employees demonstrating for better working conditions outside of the ‘Trump Taj Mahal’ casino and hotel in the US gambling stronghold of Atlantic City, USA, on 15 August 2016. (Photo: HANNES BREUSTEDT/dpa)
Yet the giant facility, which left all other Atlantic City casinos in its shadow, soon became a financial flop. It was the first of four Trump casino bankruptcies, and in 2009 he pulled out of the gambling business on the US East Coast.
Trump surrendered the last of his interest in the Trump Entertainment Resorts in March in the midst of a restructuring. New York hedge fund investor Carl Icahn, a Trump friend, took over.
But after a bitter fight with the labor unions over two months, Icahn decided to pull the plug.
Althought he invested 350 million dollars into the casino, Icahn said Monday there was nothing left to save. “Today is a sad day for Atlantic City,” he said in a statement.
In July several Trump Taj Mahal employees began their strike. They accuse Icahn of closing the casino only as a way of getting rid of the current employees.
-dpa
