Trump strikes deal with Icahn to keep his name on Taj Mahal

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- The Donald Trump name will stay in Atlantic City.

Trump reached an agreement Monday with billionaire investor Carl Icahn to allow his name to remain on the Trump Taj Mahal Casino.

Trump and his daughter Ivanka had sued the owners of the casino seeking to strip their name from it. The casino is being acquired by Icahn, who has put up $20 million to keep it going through bankruptcy proceedings.

"I am happy to have reached a deal with Carl, someone who I have great respect for both personally and professionally," Donald Trump said in a statement. "The Trump Taj Mahal, under the right leadership and with the proposed significant reinvestment in the property, can be, once again, a wonderful place for travel and entertainment."

Trump Entertainment Resorts said in the court filing Monday that the Trump name is "iconic" and "an invaluable asset and point of differentiation of the company."

The Trumps had said that Trump Entertainment allowed its two Atlantic City casinos to fall into disrepair, which they said damaged their personal brand. Ivanka Trump said the deal with Icahn allows the company to retain its rights to monitor the hotel to make sure it's brought up to their standards.

A federal judge ruled last month that the Trumps could move forward with their lawsuit in state court. Trump Entertainment Resorts had appealed that decision last week.

The company has stripped the Trump name from most of Trump Plaza, which closed Sept. 16, but was fighting to keep using it at the Taj Mahal, its lone remaining casino.

Donald Trump does not run or control Trump Entertainment Resorts, which was formed after the Trump casino empire emerged from the second of its three bankruptcies. But he retains a 10 percent stake in it.

He is particularly sensitive to any negative associations of his name with Atlantic City. He has repeatedly said he has had no involvement for at least six years with the casinos that bear his name.

Icahn is acquiring Trump Entertainment by swapping its debt that he owns in return for ownership of the company.

The agreement has to be approved by a federal bankruptcy court judge in Delaware.

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