The Trump Business Graveyard

Analyst Marvin Roffman warned before opening that the debt load could never be serviced - and was fired by his firm after Trump complained.

What it was

Atlantic City's largest casino, built for nearly $1 billion and financed with ~$675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest.

Outcome

Filed prepackaged Chapter 11 in 1991 - Trump gave up a 50% stake to bondholders. It cycled through later bankruptcies and was finally shut by Carl Icahn on Oct 10, 2016 after a strike; reopened as the Hard Rock in 2018.

SourcesNPR·Forbes

To help make a December 1990 bond payment, Trump's father Fred bought $3.5 million in casino chips - later ruled an illegal loan.

What it was

Marina-district casino hotel, its revenue undercut when the Taj Mahal cannibalized its customers.

Outcome

Filed prepackaged Chapter 11 in March 1992; bondholders took 50% ownership. Renamed Trump Marina in 1997, it languished and was sold to Landry's for $38 million in 2011, becoming the Golden Nugget.

SourcesPhiladelphia Magazine·Golden Nugget AC

What it was

Boardwalk casino hotel - the weakest performer among Trump's Atlantic City properties.

Outcome

Filed a prepackaged bankruptcy in 1992 with roughly $250 million in debt. Chronically underperforming, it closed in September 2014 and sat derelict until it was imploded on Feb 17, 2021.

SourcesPhiladelphia Inquirer·Trump Plaza

What it was

The public companies that owned the Trump Atlantic City casinos, held by public shareholders under the ticker "DJT."

Outcome

Filed Chapter 11 in 2004 under ~$1.8 billion in debt (Trump's stake cut from ~47% to ~27%), and again in 2009 after missing a $53.1 million bond interest payment (Trump resigned as chairman; stake fell to ~10%), with a further filing in 2014. Across the AC ventures, bondholders and shareholders lost an estimated $1.5 billion+ while Trump collected salary, bonuses and fees. PolitiFact put the fuller Trump-business bankruptcy count at six.

SourcesPolitiFact·American Bankruptcy Institute

What it was

The former Eastern Air Lines Shuttle - 17 Boeing 727s on the NY–Boston–Washington route - bought for $365 million and rebranded as a luxury shuttle with gold-plated fixtures.

Outcome

Bought almost entirely with debt (Trump personally guaranteed ~$135 million). It never turned a profit, lost ~$128 million by end of 1990, and defaulted in September 1990. Creditors led by Citibank took control; USAir absorbed it and stripped the Trump name.

SourcesSimple Flying·Eastern Air Lines Shuttle

What it was

Trump's franchise in the spring-season United States Football League.

Outcome

Trump drove the USFL to move to a fall schedule against the NFL and to sue the NFL for antitrust. The 1986 jury found the NFL was a monopoly but awarded just $1 in damages (trebled to $3). Combined with the abandoned spring model, it killed the league - the 1986 season was cancelled and the USFL folded.

SourcesESPN·Snopes

What it was

A multi-stage pro cycling race (837 miles, Albany to Atlantic City in its 1989 debut) pitched as an American rival to the Tour de France.

Outcome

Trump withdrew his backing after just two editions amid his broader financial troubles. DuPont took over sponsorship in 1991, and it became the Tour DuPont.

SourcesTour DuPont·Canadian Cycling

What it was

Trump's attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills after owner Ralph Wilson's death - a long-sought entry into NFL ownership.

Outcome

His non-binding bid (reportedly under $900 million; he later claimed ~$1 billion) lost to Terry Pegula, whose winning bid was ~$1.4 billion - capping decades of being frozen out of the NFL.

SourcesSports Illustrated·Fortune

What it was

A planned 3-tower, 525-unit condo-hotel near Tijuana - a licensing deal with developer Irongate; Trump was not the developer or investor.

Outcome

The project collapsed with nothing built but "a giant hole in the ground." Roughly 200 buyers lost deposits of $200,000–$300,000 each. Trump settled the buyers' fraud suit confidentially in November 2013.

SourcesCBS News·Trump Ocean Resort Baja

What it was

A 46-story condo-hotel developed by Bayrock/Sapir with Trump licensing his name and managing the property.

Outcome

A 2010 fraud suit alleged developers claimed 60%+ of units sold when only ~15% (62 units) actually had; ten buyers got 90% refunds in 2011. Underperforming and politically toxic, the operator bought out the Trump contract and removed the name in December 2017, rebranding as The Dominick.

SourcesWashington Post·Fortune

What it was

A planned 52-story, 190-unit condo tower - a name-licensing deal (Trump got $2M+ plus a sales cut; he was not the builder).

Outcome

Never got past site work; the developer went bankrupt in 2008. Buyers lost deposits as large as $250,000. Trump himself sued the developer in 2007 for unpaid licensing fees; buyers who later sued him got small settlements (one as little as $11,115), and non-litigants got nothing.

SourcesPolitiFact·ProPublica

What it was

A planned 24-story beachfront condo-hotel - a licensing deal with developer Roy Stillman and the Bayrock Group.

Outcome

The developer defaulted; Trump pulled his name in 2009; the project went to foreclosure in 2010 (~$165.6 million owed). About 75 buyers who put down ~$8 million sued; a jury sided with Trump in 2014 (he had a right to terminate). It later opened as the Conrad Fort Lauderdale.

SourcesCBS Miami·Conrad Fort Lauderdale

What it was

A 65-story hotel-condo tower developed by Talon International, with Trump supplying the brand and management.

Outcome

Beset by investor lawsuits over inflated return projections and a developer in receivership over a C$301 million loan. JCF Capital bought the defaulted loan, took control in 2017, terminated the Trump contracts, and removed the name. It became the St. Regis Toronto.

SourcesCBC·Fortune

What it was

A for-profit venture selling real-estate and wealth seminars costing up to $35,000. Never accredited; New York regulators warned in 2005 that using "university" violated state law.

Outcome

The NY Attorney General and two federal class actions alleged fraud and a bait-and-switch that misled thousands. Trump settled for $25 million in November 2016 (with no admission of wrongdoing); the settlement was approved and disbursed by 2018.

SourcesNBC News·Trump University

What it was

A traveling real-estate seminar business owned by Irene and Mike Milin that licensed the Trump name; Trump endorsed it in an infomercial ("The Donald Trump Way to Wealth").

Outcome

A 2016 New York Times report found its workbook contained ~20 pages plagiarized nearly verbatim from a 1995 Success magazine guide. The Trump-name license had already lapsed in 2009; it's widely described as a get-rich-quick scheme.

SourcesCBS News·Trump Institute

"I think it's a great time to start a mortgage company … the real estate market is going to be very strong for a long time to come." - Trump, CNBC, April 2006.

What it was

A residential and commercial mortgage brokerage at 40 Wall Street, launched at the peak of the housing bubble.

Outcome

It missed revenue targets, its CEO was found to have fabricated his Wall Street credentials, and it shut down within about 18 months as the market turned - later saddled with a judgment and a tax lien.

SourcesSlate·Crain's New York

What it was

On the same day Trump Mortgage closed, Trump licensed his name to First Meridian Mortgage, rebranded "Trump Financial" in most of its markets.

Outcome

Within a few years the Trump branding was dropped and the company reverted to First Meridian; its president blamed "bad timing" amid the financial crisis.

SourcesTrump Mortgage (Wikipedia)

What it was

An MLM selling vitamins, supplements and skincare - a Trump-licensed rebrand of Ideal Health, launched in 2009. It pushed a "PrivaTest" urinalysis (a Harvard expert called it "bogus") to sell customized vitamins.

Outcome

Marketed as "recession-proof," it collapsed. The Trump license expired at the end of 2011, and the remaining assets were sold to Bioceutica in 2012.

SourcesCBS News·STAT News

"We literally sold almost no steaks. If we sold $50,000 of steaks grand total, I'd be surprised." - Sharper Image CEO.

What it was

Premium mail-order steaks and burgers sold exclusively through The Sharper Image and QVC.

Outcome

Both retailers dropped the product within about two months after it sold almost nothing.

SourcesNBC News·Trump Steaks

What it was

A vodka brand ("Success Distilled") produced under license by Drinks Americas - fronted by a man who does not drink alcohol.

Outcome

It missed the sales and distribution thresholds required under license and ceased U.S. production under the Trump name in 2011, lingering only in Israel.

SourcesFrance 24·Trump Vodka

"It's not whether you win or lose, but whether you win!" - the game's tagline.

What it was

A Monopoly-style board game based on Trump's career, released by Milton Bradley in 1989 and reissued in 2004.

Outcome

Expected to sell ~2 million copies but sold only ~800,000; bought as a novelty and rarely played. The Apprentice-era reissue also underperformed.

SourcesTrump: The Game·New Times

What it was

Bottled Vermont spring water with Trump's face on the label, expanded nationally around 2003 and featured on The Apprentice.

Outcome

The retail brand was discontinued around 2010, surviving only as in-house water served at Trump hotels, restaurants and golf clubs.

SourcesTrump Ice

What it was

A travel search-and-booking website (~60,000 hotels) powered by Travelocity technology, tagline "the art of the travel deal."

Outcome

Folded within about a year in a crowded online-travel market.

SourcesTime·GoTrump.com

What it was

A series of glossy lifestyle magazines distributed to Trump properties and subscribers by various publishers.

Outcome

The final title, Trump Magazine, was shut down by publisher Niche Media in May 2009 amid low ad sales during the Great Recession; all the titles had ceased by 2009.

SourcesAOL/Daily Finance·Trump magazines

What it was

A Trump-licensed home-furnishings brand - furniture, lighting, mattresses, décor - sold through various licensees.

Outcome

Serta dropped the Trump mattress line in July 2015, and the broader line lost retail partners through 2015–2017, fading from mainstream retail and surviving only via boutique licensees.

SourcesNewsweek·Trump Home

What it was

A New York modeling agency owned by Trump.

Outcome

The Trump Organization closed it in April 2017; reporting cited a client/talent boycott after his campaign, plus prior controversies over the agency's treatment and visa status of foreign models. Business had "dried up."

SourcesTime·NPR

What it was

A Trump-branded menswear line sold at Macy's since 2004 and manufactured by PVH Corp.

Outcome

Macy's announced in July 2015 it would "discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump and phase out the Trump menswear collection" after his campaign remarks about Mexican immigrants; PVH wound down the line.

SourcesABC News

What it was

A Trump-licensed mattress line produced by Serta.

Outcome

Serta cut ties on July 1, 2015, saying it "values diversity and does not agree with nor endorse the recent statements made by Mr. Trump," unwinding the line.

SourcesNewsweek

What it was

Trump-branded fragrances ("Success by Trump," "Empire by Trump") produced under license and sold through retailer Perfumania.

Outcome

Perfumania announced in July 2015 it was "winding down its retail business with the Trump fragrance brand" following the campaign controversy.

SourcesABC News