Suddenly, Donald Trump is worried about his personal brand. Citing concerns about undermining his sterling reputation as a classy purveyor of high end real estate, The Donald has sued to strip his name from the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City because the two casinos have begun to resemble the man himself: old, discolored, and completely irrelevant.
“I want it off both of them,” Trump told the AP. “I’ve been away from Atlantic City for many years. People think we operate [the company], and we don’t. It’s not us. It’s not me.”
The reasons people think Trump operates the hotels include their names and the name of the company that runs them — Trump Entertainment Resorts. But Trump gave up his controlling interest in that company years ago. (Now he owns a 10 percent stake and licenses his name to the company.)
By allowing the casinos to fall into disrepair, Trump’s lawsuit says, the company has breached its licensing agreement. He wants a court order demanding the company either fixes the hotels or takes off his name, which, according to the lawsuit, “has become synonymous with the highest levels of quality, luxury, prestige and success.”
