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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A high-stakes contest to decide who gets to build a casino in New York City could potentially result in a $115 million jackpot for President Donald Trump.
The Republican stands to win big if state officials award one of three available gaming licenses to Bally’s Corp., which wants to open a casino at a city-owned golf course that used to be run by Trump's company.
In 2023, Bally's paid Trump $60 million for the rights to operate the public 18-hole course on the Bronx shoreline, near where the East River meets the Long Island Sound.
The gaming company promptly took down the massive “Trump Links” sign that was, at one time, all but impossible to miss for drivers going the across Whitestone Bridge, and renamed the course Bally's Golf Links at Ferry Point.
But under a little-noticed side deal, Bally’s promised to pay Trump another $115 million if Bally’s were to get a license to open a casino on site.
The letter disclosing that deal was included as an evidence exhibit in a trial over New York state's allegation that Trump habitually lied about the worth of his assets in financial statements given to banks. The letter describes the nonrefundable $115 million payment as a “gaming event fee.”
Bally's did not return requests for comment.
Trump's interest in Bally's project could be a wild card in New York's casino sweepstakes.
At least 11 bidders have said they are competing for the right to build what would be the first, full-service casino in the city and its nearest suburbs.
The race has drawn in big players: Caesars Palace has a plan to build a casino in Times Square; the company that owns Saks Fifth Avenue wants to put a casino atop their luxury department store in Manhattan; and Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets, is proposing a casino right outside the baseball team's home stadium in Queens. Other proposals would put casinos near the boardwalk in Coney Island, out at the Long Island arena that was formerly home to the New York Islanders, or in skyscrapers to be built in Manhattan.
Another two bidders are hoping to expand on existing operations. MGM Resorts wants to do a major upgrade of its existing Empire City “racino,” located at a horse track in the suburb of Yonkers. The gaming company Genting wants to do a multibillion dollar expansion of its Resorts World racino adjacent to the Aqueduct horse track in Queens. Those two gambling venues are now limited by law to slot machines and certain other machine-run games.
The Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
It is unclear how Trump's link to one of the bidders might affect the selection process.
Applications are supposed to be submitted to a state board by late June. First, they will be considered by community advisory committees made up of appointees of the governor, mayor and state and local officials. Their job will be to weigh any local support or opposition. The proposals then go back to the state's gaming board, which expects to award the licenses by the end of the year.
Applicants also have to get various zoning or land-use approvals depending on the location and scope of their projects. Bally’s project is also expected to require the state Legislature to pass a bill allowing the company to build their casino on public parkland.
The federal government does not play any role in the state's casino license selection process.
Trump remains highly unpopular among many public officials in New York who will be in a position to influence the process, and it is possible that antipathy could wind up being a handicap for Bally's bid.
There's also a chance someone might try to use Trump's financial interest as a bargaining chip.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has clashed with the Trump administration over immigration policy, federal funding for the city’s subway system and a tolling program in Manhattan. The Trump administration is also trying to revive a plan to build a natural gas pipeline through New York that was halted in 2017 by state environmental regulators.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, has been under intense pressure to prove his political independence after the Justice Department moved to drop his corruption case so he could assist with the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
Trump, whose Trump Organization runs more than a dozen golf courses around the world, first acquired the rights to manage Ferry Point in 2012.
The city spent more than $120 million to build the Jack Nicklaus-designed course on an old landfill, envisioning an East Coast version of the famed Pebble Beach links in California and major championships that never materialized.
