If there’s one thing you can count on Donald Trump, it’s that he’s not afraid to share his opinions. It doesn’t always mean that he’s right, but he’s completely unabashed about what he says on whatever topic he decides to take on.
Recently, the Donald bought the Doral Golf Resort & Spa from Morgan Stanley for a token amount of $150 million and with full renovations now in motion to restore Doral to its previous luster, Trump didn’t hesitate to voice his opinion regarding the issue of putting casinos in Miami.
How did point A get to point B, you ask? Well, Doral is located in Miami and the Trump is presumably pushing for state lawmakers to allow casinos in Miami. Not doing so, according to Trump, would be tantamount to getting fired in The Apprentice. Or at least something like that.
“If Miami doesn’t do casinos, that would be a terrible mistake,” Trump said in an interview a few days ago. “Taxes would be able to be reduced substantially and Miami is the only place that Las Vegas is really concerned about — in the United States.”
While that last part of his statement leaves a lot of discussion on the table, it’s certainly worth noting that whatever Trump spews out of his mouth, he believes it to his very core. That’s one of the reasons why he’s built the kind of real estate empire that few of his peers can come close to accomplishing.
Adding to the credence on his interest in putting up a casino in Miami was his recent hie of Tallahassee lobbyist Brian Ballard on his side. Ballard, incidentally, also represents Genting in its pursuit of building an integrated resort and casino in Miami, so its not like he doesn’t know what he’s doing by putting the right people around him who know the local temperature in that region.
Any decision on a casino being allowed in Miami is still being discussed by Florida lawmakers. A new gambling bill could be in the offing once legislature sessions begin early next year, or at least until an information-gathering report being conducted by the Spectrum Gaming Group is completed later this year.
For now, Trump is set on moving forward with his $250 million renovation of Doral, which he expects to return to its former opulence once the renovation is complete. But make no mistake, Mr. Combover has his eyes set on a casino in the event that lawmakers allow it. “If [casino] gambling ever comes to Florida, Doral is the single, best location,” he said, as quoted by the Miami Herald. “We’re on the airport. Every highway leads there. And I have 800 acres.”
Talking like a true businessman.
