Trump Dumps on CityCenter - Calls it "An Absolute Catastrophe"

New York real estate builder, casino developer and television star, Donald Trump, called CityCenter "an absolute catastrophe" on Larry King's December 15th show as reported in the Review-Journal by Norm Clarke.

Trump said that he came away with reservations after seeing CityCenter, saying "The biggest problem is it costs so much. It cost billions more than anticipated and it's going to be hard to recover from that."

The exchange is reminiscent of Trump's spat with Steve Wynn which has been going on for over twenty years since Wynn first opened up the Mirage. The current beef between Trump and CityCenter might have resulted from Jim Murren's comments reported in the L.A. Weekly on Trump's condo tower in Las Vegas. Murren said "And Trump certainly is not Fifth Avenue, and it doesn't have Central Park in front of it like CityCenter does."

Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage, responded to Trump's comments, "I can hardly imagine anyone's opinion that matters less than his."

Trump followed up with an e-mail to Norm Clarke with the final comment, "The CityCenter is architecturally unappealing -- It will be the biggest bust in the history of real estate -- good concept but badly designed and really badly executed. Too bad." Signed "Donald."

Trump was wrong in the past. Let's hope that he's wrong again.

John Laub is the CEO/Founder of the CEO-CFO Group.

1. "NORM:The Donald Slams New Megaresort." Norm Clarke. Las Vegas Review-Journal. December 16, 2009.

2. "NORM: Trump Fires Back About CityCenter." Norm Clarke. Las Vegas Review-Journal. December 19, 2009.