As Trump woos black voters, poor city recalls failed casino
GARY, Ind. — Donald Trump swooped into Gary on his private jet and pledged to make the down-on-its-luck city great again.
It was 1993, and the New York mogul was wooing officials in the mostly black city to support his bid to dock a showboat casino along a Lake Michigan shoreline littered with shuttered factories. Trump and his representatives later told state gaming officials he would leverage his “incomparable experience” to build a floating Shangri-La, with enough slot machines and blackjack tables to fill city coffers and local charities with tens of millions each year, while creating scores of well-paying jobs for minority residents.
Today, as the Republican presidential nominee pursues black voters with vows to fix inner-city troubles, many Gary residents say his pitch to solve the problems of crime and poverty is disturbingly familiar. Like others who have done business with Trump, they say their experience offers a cautionary tale.
Little more than a decade after investing in Gary, Trump’s casino company declared bankruptcy and cashed out his stake in the boat — leaving behind lawsuits and hard feelings in a city where more than one-third of residents live in poverty.
Gary is a victim of the economic shifts Trump has bemoaned on the campaign trail. Just 30 miles southeast of Chicago, Gary’s fortunes fell with the steel industry. The remaining 77,000 residents abide persistent crime and chronic unemployment.
In a presentation to the Indiana Gaming Commission in 1994, Trump’s team touted his “superior marketing and advertising abilities” to pitch a 340-foot-long vessel called Trump Princess with more than 1,500 slot machines.
A May 1996 agreement signed by the Trump organization said the developer would “endeavor” to fill 70 percent of its 1,200 full-time jobs with minorities. Trump was to invest $153 million.
The eight business partners in Trump’s license application had been offered a chance to buy shares worth more than $1 million, but most didn’t have the money.
So both sides negotiated a deal offering the group 7.5 percent of the stock for the riverboat and another 7.5 percent into a trust for charity.
However, the men said Trump reneged once the license was approved.
All eight sued for breach of contract, alleging they were dumped after Trump’s license was approved.
As construction proceeded in spring 1996, Trump’s commitments to hire minorities and local businesses never came to fruition, according to local leaders.
In 2004, Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts Inc., the parent company of the Gary casino, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Trump sold his company’s stake in the Gary casino the following year for $253 million.