For a period between 2008 and 2011, one in every eight murders in Atlantic City took place at Donald Trump's Taj Mahal casino. During that same period of time, there was not a single slaying at any other casino in the city, The Daily Beast reports.
The staggering number of homicides apparently stems from slashes to the Taj's security budget, which left one guard to patrol the casino's 11-story garage as well as the "entire perimeter of the property, two surface parking lots, valet parking areas, porte cochere entrance, and the bus lobby." Four people were killed at the Taj Mahal over the course of those three years, during which the average number of homicides in the city was only 11.
Though Trump owned a portion of the casino at the time, he wasn't managing daily operations — a member of New Jersey's Gaming Control Commission assured The Daily Beast that the security cuts and homicide spike "wasn't the fault of Mr. Trump." But while Trump didn't have day-to-day control of the building, he was still the chairman of the company's board, boasting 10 days before the 2008 stabbing death of Arthur Prince outside the casino that, "We're really happy with what's happened with the Taj Mahal."
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Yet even following the 2010 kidnapping and murder of a man from the Taj Mahal's parking garage, criminal complaints arising from the car garage continued to increase 86 percent over the next two years. In fact, only 16 months after the 2010 murder, a couple was shot and killed in a carjacking in the garage.
Somewhat ironically, Trump has vowed that if he becomes president, national security will be a priority. However, his opponents have argued that America will actually be less safe with him at the helm. And indeed, if Trump were to run the country anything like he oversaw at the Taj, they might just be on to something.
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