Donald Trump warns We Haven't seen the Worst in Atlantic City

This week marked the sad news that Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel laid off 1,000 workers and is likely to close on September 16th. Assuming Trump Plaza does indeed close down, they’d be the third Atlantic City casino to officially do so in 2014. And what’s bad is that famed real estate mogul Donald Trump warns that this is only the beginning.

As reported by Philly.com, Trump worries that the United States has become over-saturated with casinos and what’s happening in Atlantic City will likely spread to other places like nearby Philadelphia. Trump made the following statement regarding the matter:

I feel badly, but Atlantic City is a different place now. What’s happening in Atlantic City is happening all over the country. The United States is becoming one big casino. Atlantic City is getting clobbered. Seventy-five percent of the casinos in Atlantic City are bankrupt or going through bankruptcy. The other 25 percent are on respirator. This is going to happen in (the Philadelphia area) and Pennsylvania, too, you watch.

Trump added that every state government thinks casinos are “the panacea,” but it’s not the answer with so many casinos spreading throughout the United States. As for Trump, he only owns a 10% stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., a company that he once presided over. The billionaire saw his stake in the company continually diminish during bankruptcy court proceedings in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. Many point to the expensive price tag on building the Taj Mahal as a big reason for Trump’s financial struggles over the past two-plus decades.

Hedge funds now own the majority of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which is why the 68-year-old insists that the poor performance of the Trump Plaza is not his fault. “I’m very sad for Atlantic City. I spent many years there, as you know,” he told Philly.com. “But I have not been involved for many years. I have nothing to do with Trump Plaza’s closing. Different people own it.”

Now, there is just one Trump-brand casino left in Atlantic City, the Taj Mahal. This establishment opened in 1990 to much fanfare since its $1 billion cost made it the most expensive Atlantic City casino at the time. Since then, that distinction has been taken by the $2.4 billion Revel. Speaking of which, the Revel could soon become the fourth casino to announce closure since management is desperately trying to find a buyer in bankruptcy court. Assuming this doesn’t happen, the Revel warns that they may close on August 18th.