April 2, 1990. Atlantic City, USA.
It’s the most anticipated night in the Atlantic City – full of glitz and glitter. Extravagant laser and fireworks light the sky; the lobby is full of belly dancers wearing skimpy clothes; the doormen are dressed in feathered turbans and purple overflowing robes.
The guest list includes America’s superstars and big names. Among them are the self-styled King of Pop – Michael Jackson, the TV star, and media mogul – Merv Griffin, and the New Jersey Governor – Jim Florio. The occasion? The opening of the ‘Trump Taj Mahal,’ the largest casino resort in Atlantic City. Donald Trump, the 41-year-old real-estate mogul, raised over $1 billion to build it.
As the Trump Taj Mahal opened its doors for business, telephone operators answered thousands of incoming calls, repeating the same line every time they picked up the phone – as if it’s a mantra:
Thank you for calling the Trump Taj Majal, where wonders never cease.
Trump advertises it as the ‘eighth wonder of the world.’ But in reality, it’s an ugly monstrosity – an orientalist’s wet dream, gone horribly wrong. Tacky and over the top, it’s a mishmash of structures adorned with multi-chromatic onion domes with a tawdry typeface at the front, lit with a series of red and gold neon lights, that screams ‘Trump Taj Mahal.’
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