Which Trump Organization entities filed for Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy and in what years?

1. What the mainstream tallies say — “four” versus “six” filings

There are two commonly cited tallies. PolitiFact and several contemporary news analyses conclude Trump‑connected companies declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy six times: four filings clustered in 1991–1992, plus separate filings in 2004 and 2009 ^[1]. By contrast, outlets such as CNN and Trump allies during political campaigns emphasized “four” business bankruptcies — a count that typically treats some 1992 filings together or focuses on the larger reorganizations ^{[3] [4]}. Both tallies agree the filings were corporate Chapter 11 reorganizations, not personal bankruptcies for Donald Trump himself ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Which specific entities and years are repeatedly named

Reporting repeatedly identifies the casinos and their holding companies tied to Atlantic City as the companies involved: the Trump Taj Mahal (filed in 1991), Trump Castle ^[5], Trump Plaza/Trump Plaza Hotel (often associated with 1992 filings), and the holding company that later became Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts which hit Chapter 11 in 2004 and restructured again in 2009 under names such as Trump Entertainment Resorts ^{[2] [1] [6]}. PolitiFact’s summary explicitly lists the Taj Mahal ^[7], multiple 1992 filings, then 2004 and 2009 Chapter 11 cases ^[1].

3. Why counts differ — multiple filings, holdco vs. individual casino cases

The discrepancy between “four” and “six” arises because multiple related corporate entities filed separate Chapter 11 petitions in the same era, and some commentators group those as one episode while fact‑checkers count each legal filing. NBC News and other outlets note that two or three separate 1992 filings are sometimes collapsed into a single “1992” event, which creates the four‑vs‑six debate ^{[8] [9]}. PolitiFact’s careful breakdown counts each legal filing, producing six Chapter 11 filings overall ^[1].

4. Legal character of the filings — Chapter 11, not Chapter 7

All of the sources provided emphasize these were Chapter 11 reorganizations for business entities — a process that lets companies restructure and continue operating — rather than Chapter 7 liquidations or personal bankruptcies by Donald Trump. ABI and other explainers reiterate that Trump’s cases were corporate Chapter 11s ^{[2] [10]}. Multiple sources underline that Trump personally did not file for Chapter 7 in the public reporting cited here ^{[3] [2]}. Available sources do not mention any Trump Organization entity filing for Chapter 7 in the provided material ^{[1] [2]}.

5. What the filings accomplished and critics’ perspectives

Contemporary analyses and fact‑checks say the reorganizations reduced debt burdens and often left Trump with smaller equity stakes while preserving operations for a time — outcomes defenders call smart use of bankruptcy law and critics call exploitation that harmed other stakeholders ^{[2] [11]}. ABI and PolitiFact note that Chapter 11 is commonly used strategically and doesn’t necessarily indicate poor management, while congressional and worker‑focused reporting highlights the human and creditor costs of repeated restructurings ^{[2] [11]}.

6. Limits of the available reporting and what’s not in these sources

The provided sources focus on casino‑related Chapter 11 filings and disputes over counting; they do not offer a single, itemized list in this packet that ties every corporate name to each filing date with docket numbers. They also do not report any Chapter 7 filings for Trump Organization entities in the materials you supplied; thus I cannot confirm any Chapter 7 cases from these sources ^{[1] [2]}. For a complete legal inventory you would need primary bankruptcy court records or a consolidated, contemporaneous legal chronology not included here.

7. Bottom line for readers

If you adopt the fact‑checkers’ method of counting each legal petition, Trump‑connected companies filed Chapter 11 six times (four filings in 1991–1992 and additional filings in 2004 and 2009); many political defenders and some outlets compress those early cases into “four” corporate Chapter 11 reorganizations, but all agree these were Chapter 11 corporate filings, not personal Chapter 7 bankruptcies ^{[1] [3] [2]}.