Thread: Donald Trump's eminent domain love nearly cost a widow her house

That's the law in New Jersey, MW. The only reason Trump lost was because the Redevelopment Authority wasn't as prepared as it should have been when they argued the case before the NJ State Supreme Court. They needed to ready to be ready to tell the court what the limits were, parking lot for limousines or hotel expansion or both for example. Apparently they city attorney for the development authority didn't realize they needed to be prepared to answer that or include it in their brief, and that's the only reason they lost.

If Donald Trump just owned a simple hotel in downtown Atlantic City, that was just private property independent of any public works project, he would not have the right of eminent domain. But all these Casinos and hotels that were part of the Casino Redevelopment District Project had the right to secure land through the Redevelopment Authority if the situation warranted a valid public purpose. His did, but it required limits and unfortunately the Redevelopment Authority didn't have that issue addressed when they argued before the court or at least not sufficiently to satisfy the court.

The people of New Jersey have their own Constitution, their own issues, their own goals, their own rules, their own courts and are absolutely free and right to operate within those boundaries and that includes the Trump Plaza and Trump Resorts and Casinos corporation. Donald Trump wasn't buying this property personally, it was an important acquisition if it could occur for the companies who had invested billions in trying to revitalize Atlantic City and make it a nice place, sort of a Las Vegas on the East Coast.

So Donald Trump was doing the right thing by everyone, his companies, his lenders, his customers, his employees, the other businesses, the people of Atlantic City and yes even Vera Coking, who would have been far better off financially and in many other ways if her greed hadn't stopped her from taking a deal of a life-time.

Her mistake, not Donald Trump's. She was the villain, not Donald Trump.