Phil Satre

Reno Gazette-Journal

I got to know Donald Trump reasonably well in the 1980s — and I will not be voting for him.

Thirty-four years ago, I was a senior vice president for Harrah’s and was given the responsibility to be Harrah’s representative in a joint venture that created the Harrah’s at Trump Plaza hotel-casino property in Atlantic City. It was a major project at the time, one of the largest ever undertaken by either of our organizations. We had equal ownership, with Trump as the land developer and Harrah’s as the operator. So, over a period of four years I met with Donald frequently, often multiple times a month. It was not a happy marriage, and it ended badly. Before the divorce, I had ample opportunity to form an opinion of him — an opinion that leaves me appalled by the very thought he could become our president. Knowing that how Nevadans vote could determine the outcome in this critical election, I have chosen to relate my experiences and views of Donald Trump.

Harrah’s at Trump Plaza opened in 1984, and within a year we were in litigation with Trump. In 1985 I filed an affidavit with the court over Trump’s claims of mismanagement: Referring to Trump I said, “His written response to my letter of May 10 is characteristic of the bluster, threats, intemperance and unsupported and unsupportable falsehoods that have permeated the correspondence we have received from him and his key management employees almost since the beginning of our partnership.”

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My opinion of Donald Trump from the 1980s has not changed. The negative publicity about Trump during this campaign — his conduct toward women, his business failures and his explosive temperament — matches my dealings with him.

In 1986 we terminated the partnership by selling our half of Harrah’s at Trump Plaza back to Trump. He promptly changed the name to Trump Plaza and took over operations. Trump Plaza filed for bankruptcy in 1992. It closed in 2014 after additional bankruptcies. In contrast, Harrah’s flourished during this same period, and I retired as Chairman in 2005. If an investor had purchased $10,000 of Harrah’s/Holiday Inn stock in 1982 and held onto it until 2005, it was worth over $1 million. As the New York Times said in an article in June, there is “little doubt that Mr. Trump’s casino business was a protracted failure.” His employees, shareholders and bondholders suffered.

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Above all else, however, I am convinced he simply does not have the temperament to be president, or more importantly, commander in chief: His hair trigger temper, bluster, racial rhetoric and divisive domestic and international views will endanger our democracy and risk permanent damage to our society.

I urge those of you who are considering voting for Trump just because you want change or because you don’t like Hillary Clinton to pause and reconsider: A vote for Trump could give us a President Trump — that is the scariest prospect of all.

Phil Satre is chairman of the board of International Game Technology PLC and Nordstrom Inc. The views expressed here are his own. This column first appeared in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

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