Why New Jersey Decided Not To Renew Liquor Licenses For Trump Golf Courses In The State
The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control decided against renewing liquor licenses at two of Donald Trump’s golf clubs in the state, following his conviction on 34 felony charges in May. Forbes staff writer Zach Everson joins "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss.
READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2024/06/28/new-jersey-does-not-renew-trump-liquor-licenses-in-wake-of-felony-conviction/
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READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2024/06/28/new-jersey-does-not-renew-trump-liquor-licenses-in-wake-of-felony-conviction/
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
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NewsTranscript
00:00You have an update for us on the story you and I have been talking about now for a few weeks, Donald Trump's liquor licenses.
00:07But before we get into the new update, talk about why they were in jeopardy in the first place.
00:13The state of New Jersey does not allow people with problems of moral or who've been convicted of crimes of moral turpitude from having liquor licenses.
00:24And there's similar rules on the books in other states, too, where the former president has businesses that serve alcohol, be them resorts, golf courses, hotels.
00:35So New Jersey, after we reached out to New Jersey to ask if they were, in fact, going to look into Trump's liquor licenses, they said, yes, we are.
00:43We are going to go ahead and investigate whether he can still hold those.
00:47So they investigated. Now, bring us to today. What did they find?
00:52They decided not to renew the licenses. And a bit of coincidence here, the licenses were to expire last Sunday.
01:00The two Trump two of the three Trump clubs in New Jersey had submitted applications in May asking for renewal.
01:06And the state of New Jersey decided not to renew them, instead issuing them temporary licenses so they could continue serving.
01:14And but it was going to be pending a hearing in mid-July where the clubs would have to explain why they deserve to still have licenses and why they do not follow a foul of New Jersey law.
01:27So first, let's talk about is Donald Trump the holder of these liquor licenses?
01:32We know that the Trump organization says one thing. The state of New Jersey says another. So what are the two arguments?
01:39So what New Jersey are, excuse me, what the Trump organization says is that his name is not on the licenses and that by the licenses that I've seen and other outlets have reported on, that appears to be correct.
01:48It appears that they're all Donald Trump Jr.'s name. Now, the issue there is that they also named the business and the business that is listed on the licenses in all the instances are completely owned by Donald Trump through a string of companies and a trust.
02:07I actually printed out the graphic that we ran there is bad as it is since I made it.
02:13But you can see here, here's this golf club in Bedminster and here are the companies that own it.
02:17And then it gets split up into two other companies and then it goes to another company and then it goes to a trust.
02:23And Trump has testified in the New Jersey or New York attorney general's suit that he is the sole beneficiary of that trust.
02:31He is the only one who has put assets into that trust.
02:34So all the other information about the companies comes from his financial disclosures.
02:38So completely from information that Donald Trump has provided to government officials, you can piece together that he is the sole beneficial owner of those clubs.
02:48So we read an article pointing that out in the wake of the Trump organization's denials.
02:53And then shortly thereafter, the New Jersey attorney general's office said that it reached the same conclusion.
02:59And that's why it decided not to renew the licenses.
03:02And I think what your flow chart shows, all roads do lead to the Donald J. Trump revocable trust.
03:08They do. And that's the case with all of these companies.
03:11They don't all take the same road. They all start with different LLCs and go through different LLCs.
03:17And but they all do end at the trust of which he is the sole beneficial beneficiary.