Atlantic City plans on saying goodbye to Trump Plaza with a bang — literally 

Ask Atlantic City, N.J., mayor Marty Small Sr. about the auction to detonate the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino building, and he'll tell you flatly: It's not about politics, it's about fulfilling a promise he made to the people of Atlantic City. 

"As mayor, ultimately, I'm responsible for the health, safety and welfare of all people in the city," Small told Day 6 host Brent Bambury. "It was an eyesore. So the best thing was to take it down."

The idea of detonating the property was proposed by Icahn Enterprises, the company that, in 2018, gained control of the land on which Trump Plaza sits. 

But the choice to turn detonation into an auction to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City? That was all thanks to Small. 

"At the first demolition meeting, I said that I wanted to do something for charity for the Atlantic City youth," he said. "[Now], we're well on our way to getting that building down and hopefully raising a lot of money for charity."

The auction to detonate Trump Plaza concludes on Jan. 19, and to date, the auction has raised approximately $175,000 US across 15 bids. The detonation itself is expected sometime in February 2021.

Proud past, ignoble present

Though the property now enjoys a reputation as a hazard to the Atlantic City boardwalk when the wind blows off the ocean, Trump Plaza was once a gem among Donald Trump's personal real estate portfolio, as well the countless crowds drawn to its then-opulent pedigree. 

"[It] was the epicentre of major events — the Tyson fights, Wrestlemania, you name it," Small said. 

Over the years, largely due to Trump's own recorded history of financial mismanagement — and competition from the Trump Taj Mahal, which would serve as the crown jewel of his properties in Atlantic City — the Trump Plaza's revenues declined sharply, ultimately leading to its closure in September 2014. 

For six years, the building remained empty, literally falling to ruin, until an implosion was commissioned by Icahn Enterprises. Physical demolition work on the structure began in 2020.

Trump's tenure in Atlantic City ended in "total disaster," says mayor

Small might be diplomatic about the decision to demolish the first property that marked U.S. President Donald Trump's then-boardwalk empire, but he's clear that there's no love lost between him and the businessman who became one of the most contentious presidents in U.S. history. 

"We know Donald Trump very well, and his tenure here in the great city of Atlantic City ended in total disaster," Small said. 

"You can't take away [that] he developed a lot of casinos. Some of the most major events in the great city of Atlantic City came under his promotional watch … but toward the end, his properties were dilapidating. They didn't want to take care of workers, and we get the final result that we have now."

Not about being "disrespectful to Trump"

Small has previously expressed disappointment over some of Trump's published comments about his tenure in Atlantic City — especially comments he has made about his financial successes.

"I said in 2016, that the great city of Atlantic City unfortunately knew all well how [Trump's presidency] would end, because it ended the same way that it ended in Atlantic City, when he made a mockery of Atlantic City on national television, saying that he made a lot of money in Atlantic City and he got out," Small said. 

Nonetheless, Small is clear that the detonation and demolition of the Trump Plaza complex is not out of disrespect toward anyone. 

"This is not about being disrespectful to Trump, the disrespect is the condition of the building," Small said. 

The Atlantic City mayor added that he believes in the officers of the Atlantic City Police Department, saying that "the city will be more than prepared and will take necessary action," when it's time to detonate the building. 

"For someone to say that it's disrespectful to do that to Trump, obviously they're not living on the planet Earth."

Written and produced by Sameer Chhabra.