When Stossel raised the obvious objection - “We’re not talking about a hospital. “Do you want to live in a city where you can’t build roads or highways or have access to hospitals?” he demanded in an interview with ABC’s John Stossel. But Trump was unabashed in rationalizing the right of billionaire developers to deploy eminent domain as a weapon to confiscate land from unwilling sellers. After years of litigation, Coking was eventually allowed to keep her home. Their case was taken up, pro bono, by the Institute for Justice, a Washington-based legal group that defends private-property rights. Under the Constitution, governments may take private property only for “public use.” Trump wished to use the Coking land as a waiting area for limousines at the Trump Plaza Hotel.Ĭoking went to court, along with the owners of two other small parcels on the same block.
Instead Trump turned to a New Jersey government agency - the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority - which condemned the widow’s home, agreed to acquire it on Trump’s behalf for $251,000, and ordered Coking to move out within 90 days. Those means didn’t include offering Coking better terms.
