Trump: Take my name off Atlantic City casinos

In lawsuit, developer claims owner of Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal tarnishing his brand

From left: Donald Trump, Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.
From left: Donald Trump, Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.

Donald Trump filed a lawsuit to remove his name from two Atlantic City, N.J., casinos that he no longer owns.

Trump Entertainment Resorts, a corporate entity formerly affiliated with the developer, was accused of Allowing The Trump Taj Mahal And The Trump Plaza to slip into “an utter state of disrepair.” Donald Trump, who filed suit in New Jersey State Superior Court in Atlantic County yesterday, said the state of the casinos is tarnishing his brand.

“I’ve been away from Atlantic City for many years,” Trump told the Associated Press. “People think we operate (the company), and we don’t. It’s not us. It’s not me.”

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Trump Entertainment Resorts CEO Robert Griffin declined to comment to the AP.

Last year, the 39-story, 906-room Trump Plaza casino and resort sold to a California-based holding company the Meruelo Group for $20 million, as previously reported.

Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy four times between 1991 and 2009. After the first bankruptcy, the company went public and Trump began reducing his stake in it, from 36.6 percent in 1991 to just 5 percent as of last year, as The Real Deal reported. [AP via Crain’s]Mark Maurer