Mitch Daniels Once 'Fired' Trump Over Indiana Casino Project

Though it may be hard to believe given his mild-mannered demeanor, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is the only potential Republican presidential candidate who can claim to have fired Donald Trump. Back in 2005, Daniels effectively blocked Trump’s attempt to build a casino in the town of French Lick, Ind.

In one of his first acts as governor, Daniels asked for the resignation of the state gaming commission that approved Trump’s plans for a $108 million casino. The move raised tough questions about Trump’s financial viability. Around the same time, the Indiana tax court also ordered Trump to pay an estimated $20.9 million in back taxes. When state gambling regulators delivered a list of demands to Trump including details on the project’s funding, the mogul couldn’t meet a state-imposed deadline and backed out of the project.

Eventually, an Indiana-based group won approval and now runs the casino in town.

Daniels and Trump are currently neck-and-neck atop the polls of GOP presidential contenders. But when asked recently about Trump’s potential as a candidate during a local TV interview, Daniels laughed.

"When I was first elected, he was going to be the operator of one of our casinos and there were problems with it. So we transferred the license to somebody else," Daniels replied. "Somebody said to me: ‘You’re the first person to say, ‘Donald –- you’re fired.’’”

Watch the last 40 seconds of the interview:

Before Daniels' election, a casino in the fabled resort town was the subject of heated competition with the odds favoring a group led by hometown basketball hero Larry Bird, according to local officials.

But Trump won the uphill battle by wielding all his charm. He swept into town for a personal visit, went on a marketing blitz and promised a glitzy casino with marble floors and sparkling chandeliers. Trump’s group had the most ambitious proposal, featuring a bigger facility and more gambling revenue.

“They didn’t look too closely at Larry’s offer,” remembers Jerry Denbo, a former state representative who was the prime supporter of gaming in the county. “We had some local leaders who thought they could see Larry anytime they wanted but Donald Trump -- he was a big deal. His TV show was a big hit and people got swept up in the excitement.”

The state gaming commission awarded Indiana’s 11th casino to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts in July 2004. But a few months later, the company filed for bankruptcy protection -- with Trump relinquishing his CEO title (although remaining chairman) -- and reemerging under the name Trump Entertainment Resorts.

When new governor Daniels took office in January 2005, he called for the resignation of the commission’s seven members. Daniels wanted his own appointees to review the choice of Trump’s proposal.

“There are too many unanswered questions,” the governor said to the Courier-Journal at the time.

Powerful state lawmakers were also demanding a second look. Bob Alderman, the chairman of a key state House committee, grilled commission members on their choice at a hearing. He expressed his concern about Trump’s accounting statements and the selection process. The state also hired a bankruptcy lawyer and casino expert to review the deal.

“When we were able to look at Trump’s financials, we saw that every cent he was getting from the bankruptcy reorganization was committed -- not to Indiana,” remembers Alderman.

"The most troubling was Trump’s intention to use its casino properties, including the Orange County project, as collateral for a multimillion dollar loan,” the state-hired experts told the Courier-Journal.

When the gaming commission gave Trump a list of conditions, including covering the tax liability, the company’s representatives said they couldn’t meet the demands.

And the project’s fate was already up in the air: Just a month after being awarded the project, Trump’s company said it was “uncertain” whether it could follow through, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Asked about the decision to cut off negotiations with Trump, Daniels said in a news conference: “It’s the right outcome for all concerned.”

A lawyer for Trump and the company’s former counsel on the project did not return requests for comment.

Comments

[Alicia Westberry]

09:21 PM on 05/10/2011

Trump just wants publicity. He won't actually ever run for office.

[DANIELISTICALL]

07:13 PM on 05/10/2011

Trump Collapses In Republican Primary Poll
Posted: 05/10/11 12:37 PM ET
Donald Trump's brief flirtation with the lead in Republican primary polls may be over, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The survey, conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, found Trump garnering only 8 percent of potential Republican primary voters, down from 26 percent who said they would support him if he ran in PPP's previous survey. That plunge in support was enough to drop him from a solid first place to a tie for fifth place.

[MktLdr]

06:52 PM on 05/10/2011

The substance and results are there. He turned Indiana around and balanced their budget. Add sizzle to the steak, and this is the man for 2012.

[RainingInOhio]

11:44 AM on 05/16/2011

You are right. This is exciting!

[observerintexas]

06:23 PM on 05/10/2011

First goog thing I've heard about Mitch Daniels

[DANIELISTICALL]

06:17 PM on 05/10/2011

AND JUST WHO IS THIS GREAT REPUBLICAN THAT IS GOING TO DEFEAT OBAMA?????
HE OR SHE DOES NOT EVEN HAVE A NAME YET,,,,, NO ONE ,,,,NO ONE HAS
OFFICIALY ANOUNCED THEY ARE RUNNING,,,, NOT TRUMP NOT NEWT,, NOT PALIN
NOR PRISH AMRIGHT JINDAL (bobby) ,,, and this is the republican plan to win,,,,,,,,roflmao OBAMA WILL WIN BY DEFAULT,,,,,SILLY REPUBLICANS
TRICKS ARE FOR KIDS

[Jeff081]

06:04 PM on 05/10/2011

When Obama put down Trump at that dinner, there was nothing Trump could do, his hands were basically tied behind his back. I think we're all sick of this bullying and name calling from the left, we made one change on November 2nd, and we'll make two more in November of next year.

[DANIELISTICALL]

06:27 PM on 05/10/2011

he could have not lied to begin with in order to get himself in that situation,,,,,,,,,

[MktLdr]

06:53 PM on 05/10/2011

...and you are the judge and jury...

[Ron Weaver]

06:38 PM on 05/10/2011

That's funny.. seen the polls lately? Are you really that out of touch?

[dburkwald]

06:02 PM on 05/10/2011

Let's all remember that this is Indiana.

[nmhart]

10:43 AM on 05/12/2011

I listened and I thought and I listened and I thought and I still come back to what I thought at the very beginning if anybody asks me why: it's Indiana. It's Indiana.

[DANIELISTICALL]

06:01 PM on 05/10/2011

Karl Rove didn't hold back in sounding off on the prospect of Donald
Trump running for president in the next election cycle during a recent
appearance on Fox News."His full embrace of the birther issue means that he's off there in the nutty right and is now an inconsequential candidate," said Rove of Trump's penchant for raising skepticism over whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. "I'm shocked, the guy is smarter Than this."According to the top Republican strategist and Fox News contributor, making the birther issue "the centerpiece of his campaign means that
he's just a joke candidate."

[CHARLESHARRIS]

06:09 PM on 05/10/2011

Trump got obama to do what others have been trying to get him to do. show his long form birth cert and be done with it. keep making bigger issues out of nothing as libs do.

[DANIELISTICALL]

06:12 PM on 05/10/2011

OBAMA showed his long form because obama wanted too ,,, trump had nothing to do with it,,,,,,

[bfwent]

05:53 PM on 05/10/2011

A Record that Obama has failed to accomplish:
Last night The Washington Post released a new poll showing Governor McDonnell has a 62% approval rating, making him the most highly rated elected official in the Commonwealth! This survey follows an April Roanoke College poll that gave the Governor a 66% approval rating.

In addition to concluding that nearly two-thirds of Virginians approve of the job Governor McDonnell is doing, The Washington Post also found:

82% of Republicans, 63% of independents, and 50% of Democrats approve of the job Governor McDonnell is doing;

52% of Virginians believe the Commonwealth is heading in the right direction, compared with only 31% who believe the same about the country.
In publishing their findings, the Post notes: "In his first 15 months in office, McDonnell has focused on creating jobs, streamlining government and securing $2.9 billion in bonds for perennially clogged roads and $100 million for underfunded colleges.... McDonnell helped cut $4 billion from the state budget, paring back spending to 2006 levels and not raising taxes. He later announced that the state ended the fiscal year with a surplus of about $403 million."

Cutting spending, creating jobs, investing in transportation and education, and getting results - it’s all part of the McDonnell record.

[DANIELISTICALL]

06:04 PM on 05/10/2011

GOP Governors Admit Their Goal: Kill Jobs
by Anima
Fri Nov 19, 2010 at 07:34:58 PM PST
The Wall Street journal is out with an article today in which newly
elected Republican governors made it quite clear if it wasn't already:
their primary objective as governors of their states over the next two
years is to purposefully butcher their economies and decimate jobs in an attempt to win the presidency for the GOP in 2012.
These political terrorists then went on to note that if they succeed in trashing their states via the budget process, Democrats up and down the ticket will suffer. Insofar as this statement regards Democrats who are not the President, this logic is clearly delusional. While voters are happy to have a balanced budget, they aren't interested in having a balanced budget at the explicit expense of the entireeconomy.______Most politically independent economists, for example, say the huge cuts envisioned by the budget bill that Republicans recently passed in the House could slam the brakes on economic growth and put at risk hundreds of thousands of jobs.

THIS IS EXACTY WHAT WALKER IN WISSCONSIN IS DOING,,,,,,,and Mc Donald in Virginia

[ThisAlreadyHappened]

05:42 PM on 05/10/2011

Love him or hate him. Trump will be the president in 2012. Mark my words.

[stillmanbd]

05:07 PM on 05/10/2011

The Politician who fired Trump is Barrak Obama. He reduced the pin head to the size of a pin at the press corp dinner. That was truly brilliant.

[sgt Saber]

05:34 PM on 05/10/2011

agree

[CHARLESHARRIS]

05:42 PM on 05/10/2011

oh, you mean the comedian-in-charge. anyway trump new trouble was brewing, obama acted like a brat for doing this and what goes around comes around ( double fold with Trump) and if you think this was appropriate behavior for the comedian-in-charge you are the pinhead.

[consindenial]

04:05 PM on 05/10/2011

Obama effectively "fired" Trump when he exposed Trump as a liar when he shoved the birth certificate in Trump's face..."I have investigators in Hawai'i who have found evidence that Obama was not born in Hawai'i..."

[KittyMack]

04:00 PM on 05/10/2011

Donald Trump is seriously running? Lol!! Thank you Donald, for the comic relief. I'm sure the GOP will come up with someone with far more integrity. "Winning" isn't everything, Donald, it's HOW you win.

[CHARLESHARRIS]

05:43 PM on 05/10/2011

yes thats right. ask obama. he knows all the crooked tricks.

[aveindustries]

03:59 PM on 05/10/2011

I don't get it, I have seen many interviews with Mitch where he says he has no desire to run for President and has enough problems running Indiana yet the media continually pressures him to run. I just saw him on CNBC not to long ago and they were asking him if he was going to run and he not just said no, but also said he has no desire to run. Now all of a sudden he's a Presidential candidate? What's up with that?

Ron Paul 2012

[consindenial]

04:06 PM on 05/10/2011

It's the same with Christie...

[bfwent]

03:59 PM on 05/10/2011

TRUMP, TRUMP, you are our man, if you can't Fire Obama, nobody can!

[LarrBerr]

05:03 PM on 05/10/2011

Obama appreciates your endorsement!