When did each Trump-owned Atlantic City casino open and close?
Executive summary
Donald Trump opened three Atlantic City casinos: Trump Plaza (opened May 14, 1984), Trump Taj Mahal (opened 1990), and Trump Marina/Trump Castle (opened earlier in 1981 as the Playboy — later acquired/renamed by Trump) — each later closed or was sold: Trump Plaza closed in 2014 and was demolished in 2021 [1] [2] [3], the Taj Mahal closed under new ownership and later became Hard Rock (closure announced 2016 and later sale/reopenings noted) [4] [5], and Trump Marina was sold and became the Golden Nugget (property history noted across sources) [6] [3]. Available sources do not give an authoritative single table of exact opening and closing dates for every Trump-branded Atlantic City property in one place.
1. The three Trump casinos and their origins — quick facts
Trump’s Atlantic City footprint grew in the 1980s and 1990s with three principal boardwalk properties: Trump Plaza (opened May 14, 1984) [1], Trump Taj Mahal (a massive project inaugurated in 1990) [4], and the property known as Trump Castle/Trump Marina (part of the early wave of Trump-owned casinos) [6] [3]. Trump also briefly had involvement in other gaming ventures outside Atlantic City, but the core local portfolio is these three [6].
2. Trump Plaza — rise, last day, demolition
Trump Plaza opened as Harrah’s at Trump Plaza on May 14, 1984; Trump later consolidated ownership and renamed it Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino [1]. Owners confirmed plans to close the property in 2014, with reporting that the expected shutdown date was September 16, 2014; the casino ultimately ceased operations that year and sat vacant [7] [2]. The vacant complex remained the subject of demolition debate for years and was finally imploded on February 17, 2021 [3] [2]. Sources emphasize the 2014 closure and the 2021 demolition as the end points of the Plaza’s story [2] [3].
3. Trump Taj Mahal — an expensive bet that ended in sale/closure
The Taj Mahal was inaugurated in 1990 and, at the time, represented Trump’s largest Atlantic City gamble (built at nearly $1 billion) [4]. Years of losses and ownership changes followed: Trump Entertainment Resorts and later Carl Icahn were involved; in 2016 reporting stated the Taj Mahal would shut down after years of losses, and regulatory/ownership developments led to its sale and eventual rebranding as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (closure announcements and subsequent purchase/reopening reported in multiple sources) [5] [4]. Reporting notes a 2016 announcement of closure and that Hard Rock reopened the facility after purchase in 2018 [4].
4. Trump Castle / Trump Marina — acquisition and rebrand
Trump purchased and renamed various boardwalk and marina properties in the 1980s; one early property opened as Playboy and later became part of the Trump map of Atlantic City, while Trump Marina (originally Trump Castle) was among the properties Trump owned and later sold — today that property operates under new ownership and other brand names such as Golden Nugget (summary of portfolio changes in sources) [6] [3]. Available sources do not provide a single authoritative opening date and final closure date for the Castle/Marina transition in this packet beyond noting Trump’s early-1980s acquisitions and subsequent sale [6].
5. Why dates and ownership are messy — bankruptcies, sales, and rebrands
Trump Entertainment Resorts went through multiple bankruptcies , and Trump’s ownership stakes shifted over time; many properties were sold to Carl Icahn or other buyers, then closed, rebranded, or redeveloped [6]. That corporate churn explains why sources report closures, planned shutdown dates, court filings and later demolitions in different years [6] [4] [2]. Reporting shows closures were often announced months before they occurred; unions, legal appeals and buyers complicated final shutdown dates [4] [7].
6. Disagreements, gaps and what the sources omit
Sources in this set consistently give Plaza’s opening (May 14, 1984) and Plaza’s 2014 closure plus 2021 demolition [1] [2] [3]. They record the Taj Mahal as opened in 1990 and note a 2016 closure announcement and later sale/reopening to Hard Rock [4] [5]. For Trump Castle/Marina, the materials note Trump’s acquisition and later sale but do not present a single agreed opening and final closure date in these excerpts; therefore, exact day-by-day timelines for every ownership transfer of the Castle/Marina are not found in current reporting [6]. Available sources do not mention a compact, fully detailed timeline table listing every exact open-and-close date for each Trump-owned Atlantic City property.
7. Bottom line — the arc of Trump’s Atlantic City legacy
The clear pattern across these sources is rapid expansion in the 1980s–1990s, heavy investment (notably the Taj Mahal), repeated financial distress and bankruptcies for Trump Entertainment Resorts, and eventual sale/closure/rebranding of the casinos: Trump Plaza (1984 → closed 2014; demolished 2021), Trump Taj Mahal (opened 1990 → closed under new ownership and later converted to Hard Rock after 2016–2018 developments), and Trump Marina/Castle (early acquisition and later sale/rebrand) [1] [4] [6] [3].