Trump season begins

If there's one thing people like, it is the chance to jump on a bandwagon. For example, when The Apprentice inexplicably became popular, people suddenly assumed that Donald Trump was some kind of casino genius. In point of fact, though he has some extremely talented people working for him, he has just not been able to put the kind of money back into his Atlantic City properties that his competitors have. Still, this didn't stop people from blindly worshipping Trump. I bet that there are people out there who thought it was really cool to say "You're fired" to people, animals, and things just because they heard the D do it. I picture some loserish guy lounging on his sofa asking his flea-bitten dog to fetch or play dead, and when the canine doesn't move, letting rip with a "You're fired!"

As I've said before, I worked for the D three times, and not once was I fired. I had personal contact with the big guy himself a handful of times over the years, though, and his personally firing a rather obscure security officer/life safety monitor/surveillance operator would have been pretty atypical. But still.

So now that the Donald has declared bankruptcy, the bloom is off the rose. As I said above, people love jumping on a bandwagon, but they also love kicking someone when they're down and piling on. Take this assessment of the D's AC casinos, from the NY Daily News:

"It's like this place is stuck in the '80s," said Erin Aldcroft of East Providence, R.I., as she walked past a deserted restaurant and bar yesterday at the Trump Marina.

"Maybe on 'The Apprentice' this fall, one of the tests will be to fix up the casinos," she added....

"It's a lot easier on the eyes," said Brian Eckstrom, 25, of Marlton, N.J., pointing out The Borgata's soft orange lighting and vaulted ceilings. "Maybe it's a state of mind, but the Trump places don't compare to this."

Maria Dalessandro, 79, of Lakewood, N.J., said she now takes day trips to The Borgata instead of at the Trump casinos, formerly a must-stop on her outings to Atlantic City.

"The Trump places don't have to be fancy, but they got old," she said.

While The Borgata has an outpost of The Old Homestead, a New York steakhouse, the Trump Marina has a Hooters and a Taco Bell.

Trump change all that's left: Casinos need upgrade

A Hooters and a Taco Bell? As James Coburn said in Payback, "That's just mean!" The Marina also has a great steakhouse, and an excellent Sunday brunch, as well as the Wave and the Deck.

And it's not just the Daily News that's piling on DT. The venerable New York Times printed this:

"Other than a stockholder, who would care?" asked Wellington Brown of Newark, who was gambling at the Trump Plaza on Tuesday afternoon with a friend, Robert Hall, also of Newark.

Mr. Brown added that he doubted the bankruptcy would have much impact even on Mr. Trump. "He's just protecting his assets. He's better off after bankruptcy than before," said Mr. Brown, who visits Atlantic City four or five times a year. Although he held no sympathy for Mr. Trump, Mr. Brown said he favored the Trump Plaza because it was quieter than some of the newer upscale casinos like the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. He gave the casino owners credit for bringing Atlantic City back to life.

"It's a 30-year work in progress and it is still changing," he said. "I think Trump will get out of the casino business eventually. He's better at building big buildings and collecting rent. Running a hotel is a tough business.

"How many places can you run before you're killing yourself with competition?" he added. Although the Trump properties, which are in older buildings, appear to be in good shape, with little of the wear and tear that financial problems can sometimes create, a ceiling tile collapsed while Mr. Brown and Mr. Hall were standing in the hallway talking, and water cascaded to the floor.

Then there was this final blast:

For Vince and Jane Mangiamele of the Poconos in Pennsylvania, the atmosphere is what draws them to the Trump Marina.

"The people are friendlier here," Ms. Mangiamele said, "but I don't care about Mr. Trump. We saw him here a few months ago and he wouldn't even say hello to us."

Mr. Trump has not won the heart of Joan White of Philadelphia, either.

"I don't care if he goes bankrupt; he's arrogant and I don't like his television show either. But they have better slot machines here," she said. "He's got that gorgeous house in Florida, so he's not really going bankrupt, not like we would."

No Tears for Trump in Atlantic City's Casinos (reg. required)

The bit about the ceiling tile crashing down and water cascading to the floor in the middle of the reporter's visit is absolutely priceless. Now if a spokesperson had just been saying words to the effect that the casinos are the best-maintained in the city, with huge budgets for preventative maintainence, this would have been (former) Iraqi information minister funny.

Anyway, these stories just show the general sheep mentality. To hear the papers say it, last week, Trump was at the helm of a glittering casino empire, but today, his properties are crumbling into dust. And where was any of this sudden critical sense of the limitations of the Trump casino properties when, about two weeks ago, Trump was announcing a plan to build a high-rise hotel across from Wynn Las Vegas? People took that bit at face value with absolutely no questioning of where he would find the money, or any look at his track record in Atlantic City.

There is balance in the universe, and I think that it is more than coincidental that, around the same time that the Donald filed for bankruptcy, the "Wynn" signature at the crest of Wynn Las Vegas was lit up. For me, it's no big deal seeing a casino mogul's name in lights; I grew up about two miles from the gigantic red TRUMP on top of Trump Plaza. Still, I love the symbolism of Steve Wynn literally putting his signature on the Las Vegas Strip.

posted by Dave at 9:27 AM

3 Comments:

I was sure the Donald was going to fill for chapter 11, but not this soon! He seems to be very good in crisis management; he got out of trouble once, he has some chances to get out of troubles now again. But... I always thought real leaders prevent crisis, or at least most of them, instead of fixing issues which already became troubles.

Maybe Trump's choice to take a chance and try TV fame was a way to improve his negotiationg position for future deals about debt reduction and loans.

We'll see, hoping he'll not have to fire all his staff due to his... debts.

I thought Dr. Schwartz made up "The Donald" as a way to refer to Mr. Trump... then I saw it on a national magazine at the store. So either the entire population calls Donald Trump "The Donald" or Dr. Schwartz has started a global trend! By the way, if anybody really reads this, would "The Donald" be pronounced "THE Donald" or "The DONald"? And also I take it that "You're fired" is kind of like "You are the weakest link--good-bye!"?
Zzzzz

Since he came over to Brazil, met some of our pretty women, drunk some "caipirinha", danced some "aché" and saw our wonderful landscape - he decided TO FIRE HIMSELF... retire... and earn a living in our little city of Itatiba, just as a tax exile! Local support, sure he has found it too. Professionals of top level... in every known field of business. He shall be prosperous... again... soon! You will see on TV. gomesdecampos@kyotec.com.br // Itatiba - SP - Brazil