Donald Trump spent the last four years committing numerous crimes big and small, the most serious one being his incitement of the violent mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6. Unfortunately, because of his inexplicable stranglehold on the Republican Party, he’s gotten away with all of it. That has unsurprisingly left millions of people feeling variously disappointed, confused, and angry, with few ways to channel their feelings (aside from hoping he’s hit with a never-ending tide of lawsuits and/or a prison sentence). Luckily, this week has fortuitously brought with it some much-needed catharsis, in the form of a Trump property being literally blown to smithereens.
On Wednesday morning, the derelict Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City was blown up before an audience of paying guests, after demolition crews placed approximately 3,000 sticks of dynamite around the structure to send its 34 stories crumbling to the ground. “It’s an end of a not-so-great era,” Jennifer Owen, who bid $575 to win a front-row seat to the show, told The New York Times. If you weren’t able to make it down to A.C., don’t worry, you can watch the implosion over and over and over again at your leisure:
Trump Plaza was one of a trio of casinos the ex-president owned before his gambling business went belly up and filed for bankruptcy, leaving, per The New York Times, “a trail of unpaid contractors and suppliers.” Opening day on May 14, 1984, reportedly involved malfunctioning slot machines and left “two women injured when a faulty fire alarm caused a rush of gamblers trying to leave the building.” In 2009, Trump resigned as chairman of the company, retaining just a 10% stake, and on September 16, 2014, the Plaza shuttered for good, closing out a run as the worst-performing casino in Atlantic City. After that, NJ Advance Media notes, the building sat vacant, sending pieces of debris flying onto the boardwalk every time nor’easters traveled up the coast, which is clearly a metaphor for something. During his first State of the City in January 2020, Mayor Marty Small said it was his goal “to tear Trump Plaza down,“ adding: “It’s an embarrassment, it’s blight on our skyline, and that’s the biggest eyesore in town.”
Trump’s old casino wasn’t the only thing getting the boot this week though. His Mar-a-Lago helipad is also in the process of getting the heave-ho. Per the Daily Mail:
