Trump's casinos could be sold this week

Atlantic City, N.J. -- A deal to buy Trump Entertainment Resorts and its Atlantic City, N.J., casinos could be reached this week and Donald Trump said walking away could be hard.

"I've been here for so long," Trump told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's been really a wonderful journey."

Sources familiar with negotiations said Trump is asking more than $2.2 billion for the Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina casinos. The deal includes $1.5 billion in debt. He said he hopes whoever buys his casinos will keep him on in some capacity in the resort where he's been a fixture for 26 years.

"I'm one of the biggest developers in the world," he told the Inquirer. "But I have a great loyalty to Atlantic City."

At least four billion-dollar-plus casinos are being built and competitors are spending hundreds of millions of dollars into upgrades to lure more affluent players.
"The casinos have never been a big thing for me in terms of dollars," Trump said. "It's not a very large part of my company but it's an important part."

Trump said his share of the Atlantic City casinos makes up less than 3 percent of his net worth, listed at $2.9 billion, the Inquirer reported.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.