President Donald Trump’s bid to open Sydney’s first casino 30 years ago was thwarted after regulators expressed concern over his alleged “mafia connections.” Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) police board recommended against approving an offer from the former New York businessman and a local developer, according to a report from The Australian, because it would have been “dangerous.”
The now U.S. president, in partnership with the Queensland-based Kern Corporation, was one of four groups bidding for the lucrative Darling Harbour project in Sydney. However, the New South Wales (NSW) government rejected the pair’s proposal on 05 May 1987, along with two other bidders. At the time Trump owned two casinos in Atlantic City – Trump Plaza and Trump’s Castle – and was poised to open a third with the Trump Taj Mahal.
“Atlantic City would be a dubious model for Sydney and in our judgment, the Trump mafia connections should exclude the Kern/Trump consortium,” a summary of the NSW police board’s report concluded on 04 May 1987.
The NSW government’s concerns regarding Trump’s joint venture were not made public at at the time. However, under rules which declassify NSW cabinet papers, summaries of several reports on the Kern/Trump joint bid became public. The Trump organization was not available to comment when contacted by CNBC.
Perhaps Sydney, for once, made the right decision 30 years ago.
“In this age of boasted enlightenment, the Christian church is confronted with a world lying in midnight darkness, almost wholly given over to idolatry. A well-nigh universal disregard of the law of Jehovah is rapidly making the world like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As in the days before the Flood, violence is filling the land. Gambling and robbery are coming to be common evils. The use of intoxicating liquors is on the increase. Many who have followed their own unsanctified will seek to end their unprofitable lives by suicide. Iniquity and crime of every order are found in the high places of the earth, and those who assent to these wrongs are seeking to shield the guilty ones from punishment. Not one-hundredth part of the corruptions that exist is being made plain to the world. Little of the cruelty that is carried on is known. The wickedness of men has almost reached its limit.” Testimonies to Ministers, page 457.