Harry Reid Says Donald Trump Couldn't Get A Nevada Casino License, But Trump Actually Has OneFormer Nevada Gaming Regulator Blasts Trump In Interview |
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As if this election cycle couldn’t get any tenser, retiring Nevada Senator Harry Reid told The Washington Post that Republican Presidential candidate and former Atlantic City casino boss Donald Trump couldn’t get a gaming license in Nevada if he wanted to.
Trump was actually licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2004. Reid, 76, served as the chairman of the NGC from 1977 to 1981.
“He couldn’t get a license,” Reid said. “No question about it. Not a chance. I may not be an expert on a lot of stuff, but I’m an expert on gaming licenses. You can’t have filed 14 bankruptcies, cheat people out of stuff. In gaming circles, if somebody does something bad once, you can’t get a gaming license. He’s done something bad his whole life.”
Trump’s string of bankruptcies and other failures in Atlantic City have been widely reported on this year, though Trump claims he made $10 billion from his dealings in Atlantic City.
His character as a casino owner was also called into question last year when a Mother Jones report said that a former employee at one of his casinos claimed that when Trump was at the property the black casino workers were hidden from the billionaire’s view.
According to The Washington Post report, Reid eased up on his initial claim about Trump and Las Vegas and said that the NGC wouldn’t allow him to open a casino if he wanted.
In a Sept. 15 press release, Reid clarified his remarks: “I was the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission for four very tumultuous years. I was there when we allowed Nevada operations to go to Atlantic City. So I understand what took place in Atlantic City. He’ll do anything to make a buck for himself. He applied for a license a number of years ago in Nevada and was a passive owner. He got one. It was just perfunctory. If he applied for a license after what he has done in Atlantic City and what he has done since, he couldn’t get a gaming license in Nevada.”
Trump recently parted ways with his remaining stake in Atlantic City gambling when the Trump Taj Mahal emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The last New Jersey casino bearing Trump’s name will close in October.
Trump co-owns the luxury high-rise Trump Hotel in Las Vegas with Phil Ruffin, but the property doesn’t have gambling. According to a report this year from The Wall Street Journal, the two businessmen have been considering a Strip gambling facility.
According to the political fact-checking website Snopes.com, there is no evidence to suggest that the Trump Hotel was originally planned as a casino and that Nevada regulators were uninterested in letting Trump be involved with a full-scale casino.
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