Trump Wins OK to Use Casinos as Collateral : Finance: New Jersey commission gives developer approval to put up three gaming halls in order to secure a $65-million bank loan. The move could save his real estate empire.

The state Casino Control Commission today granted Donald Trump permission to use his three gaming halls as collateral for a $65-million bank loan in a plan his attorneys said was necessary to save his empire.

Trump attended the half-hour meeting, staring straight ahead, unsmiling and with his lips pursed, even as the plan was approved.

“This is a big hurdle and I’m happy,” Trump told a throng of reporters and camera crews. “Maybe you can focus on someone else now.”

During hearings last week, Trump’s attorneys told the commission that rejection of the plan, or even a delay of more than a week or so, could topple the first domino in Trump’s casino-and-real-estate empire.

Although the vote to approve was unanimous, 5-0, commissioner W. David Waters said he was concerned because the commission had not looked in greater detail at Trump’s casino debt.

The loan allowed Trump to make an overdue $43-million bond payment in June on the Trump Castle casino.

Earlier, the state Division of Gaming Enforcement had reluctantly endorsed the plan but criticized the debt-heavy state of Trump’s casinos. The division added provisos to the plan requiring that Trump return three weeks from now with details of how he plans to make a $47-million bond payment due Nov. 15 on his new Taj Mahal Casino Resort.

Trump is expected to return with a proposal to swap some of his $3.2 billion in debt for equity, sell assets--perhaps the poorly performing Trump Shuttle airline--or negotiate reduced or deferred interest rates.

Claridge Casino Hotel President Roger Wagner said Monday that Trump’s stated desire to keep all three casinos would prove difficult.

“I think he would like to do that,” Wagner said. “But maybe that is a positioning he has to do to keep the value up.”

Wagner said there might not be much of a market for the casinos because of a stagnant gaming market overall.

He said the April 2 opening of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort has hamstrung Trump by further taxing his already-strained resources.