Trump: I’m Only For Eminent Domain When It’s Used To Create Jobs
“In an interview with FOX News Sunday moderator Chris Wallace that aired Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump explained his views on eminent domain and said he only supports exercising it when job creation is involved.
In the case where he tried to use eminent domain to obtain a woman’s house to expand his hotel in Atlantic City and was unsuccessful, Trump said in hindsight he is very thankful that the woman didn’t give in because in the end it “saved him a fortune.”
“Because I have a hotel, and in order to expand the hotel and add 2,000 rooms, I would have had to take her thing,” Trump said about his attempt at eminent domain. “Now, the 2,000 rooms would have provided about 2,500 jobs, Ultimately offered a lot of money, she didn’t take it, I didn’t build the job. I didn’t do it. Saved me a lot of money because Atlantic City, you know, I had the good sense to leave 7 years ago. I got very lucky. Yeah, I think that would have been a good eminent domain because you would have provided thousands of jobs. And this is a woman who couldn’t have cared less about her house. All she wanted was money.””
Real Clear Politics 18 October 2015.