Happier Times
Here we have Donald and Fred Trump woth then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch in July 1982. The three looked so happy, but in just a few years, Trump would see that his attempts to get into the casino business in New Jersey wouldn’t turn a profit. As he was buying properties in Atlantic City, bad financial performances started piling up, leaving Trump with no choice but to sell off his money-losing airline, Trump Shuttle. Not to mention, he had to restructure debt and sell his mega-yacht, Trump Princess. By 1995, he consolidated all his casino properties under Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. It underwent bankruptcy restructuring in 2004 and 2009.
Happier Times
Football Fan
As it turns out, Trump’s gamble on Atlantic City casinos wasn’t the only failed attempt in New Jersey. Trump hired Walt Michaels as the Head Coach for Trump’s United States Football League team, the New Jersey Generals. Donald bought the Generals in 1983, hoping they would help turn the league into a major contender with the more established National Footbal League. However, he made one serious mistake while trying to run the league. A lot of the teams were losing money, but Trump wanted to move his team’s schedule from spring/summer to fall/winter to directly compete with the NFL. The USFL filed an antitrust suit against the NFL, won, but it was only awarded $1. It was a “victory in name only.” By that point, most teams weren’t able to maintain the costs of running their organizations or compete with the NFL’s schedule, so the league disbanded.
Football Fan
