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.
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"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.