Trump Fails To Pull Out The Killer Card

10.1.2007 | 9:02 pm | News, casinos

In a  move which probably epitomises the life and career of serial risk taker Donald Trump, he recently came within a whisker of selling his casino business only for the deal to fall at the final hurdle.  While there were no details released as to why the deal fell through, the recent credit crunch would not have assisted the situation, with international finance streams all but dried up.  So what next for the magician that is Donald Trump, the man who has pulled more rabbits out of a hat than Paul Daniels?

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. has been in trouble for some time and is finding it very hard to compete with other casinos in Atlantic City.  The new casinos are better financed, of modern design and are bringing in the bucks, something which Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. is not.  Trump’s company is also some $1.5 billion in debt, and while it is struggling with local competition at the moment, there are plans for at least another two casino groups to enter the city over the next four years.

While the management of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. have put a brave face on the situation, announcing upbeat plans to refurbish and reposition the groups casinos, the fact is that while Trump was one of the first on the scene in Atlantic City, times and fashions have moved on - his casinos now look out of date compared to today’s establishments.  The group is now in a very difficult situation, and while there are rumoured to be more companies interested in acquiring the venture, what price would it fetch now?

While people will knock and criticise Trump, he is willing to take large investment risks, and he is also brave enough to stand up and say “enough is enough”.  He has battled back from bankruptcy and other financial disasters in the past, and the odds are that while Trump may disappear from the casino scene in the near future, this is not the last we have heard from him!