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Atlantic City Casinos: Six Bankruptcies, Bondholders Wiped Out, Workers Unpaid

Trump's Atlantic City casinos were overleveraged from the beginning: the Taj Mahal alone carried $675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest when it opened in 1990. When revenue fell short of the debt service requirements, bankruptcy followed. Through six rounds of bankruptcy, Trump negotiated deals that preserved his equity stake or management role while bondholders received cents on the dollar. He personally profited $82 million in salary and fees from the casinos between 1995 and 2009 while publicly traded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts lost $1.4 billion. Trump repeatedly characterized the bankruptcies as strategic use of 'the laws of this country' and claimed he had made 'a lot of money' on Atlantic City.