Washington: Citing the bankruptcy of Trump Taj Mahal hotel and ongoing strike of workers at this iconic casino in Atlantic City named after one of the eight wonders of the world, Hillary Clinton on Thursday questioned the business credentials of Donald Trump.
Trump from the Republican Party and Clinton from the Democratic Party faces each other in the November presidential elections.
Built at an estimated cost of USD 1 billion, the Trump Taj Mahal, a casino and hotel owned by Trump, was opened on April 2, 1990.
"Donald once called it (Trump Taj Mahal) the 'Eighth Wonder of the World'. It filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Things got so bad, the new management canceled workers' health insurance and pensions. Now those workers are on strike and we should all support them in getting a fair deal," Clinton said.
The Clinton Campaign roped in Marty Rosenberg of the Atlantic Plate Glass which was one of many that bore the brunt of Trump's disastrous business dealings and bankruptcies in Atlantic City in the 1990s.
Atlantic Plate Glass, where Rosenberg then served as Vice President, was contracted to install floor-to-ceiling curtain walls of glass at the Trump Taj Mahal.
As with many small businesses and contractors who worked on Trump's casinos in Atlantic City, Atlantic Plate Glass was not paid in full for its work on the Taj Mahal – Trump eventually owed the company more than one million dollars, the Clinton campaign alleged.
"Over a quarter of a century ago, I was one of the contractors participating in building the Taj Mahal," Rosenberg said.
"It was this time that Trump made a promise to me, my family, and to the people of Atlantic City. If you do a good job, in a timely manner, you will be paid an agreed amount. This promise went unfulfilled," Rosenberg alleged.
Meanwhile, the Clinton election campaign today reached Atlantic City where Trump once had several properties.
Many of these have had filed for bankruptcy in the past. "His businesses were failing long before the rest of the town was struggling. In fact, other businesses here did worse because Trump acted so irresponsibly. He calls himself the 'King of Debt,' and he earned that title right here in A.C.," Clinton alleged.
"He intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies hundreds of millions of dollars. He borrowed at high interest rates even after promising regulators that he wouldn't. What came next? He defaulted on those loans. And at the end, he bankrupted his companies not once, not twice, but four times," said the former Secretary of State.
"Here's an important thing about how Trump operates. He doesn't default and go bankrupt as a last resort. He does it over and over again on purpose even though he knows he will leave others empty-handed while he keeps the plane, the helicopter, the penthouse," Clinton said.
