Twenty-Nine Palms Band wore 'Donald Trump, you're fired' shirts

Tuesday, October 18, 2016  

The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians famously dumped Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and The Los Angeles Times offers new details about their rocky relationship.

In 2002, Trump agreed to manage the tribe's casino for 30 percent of the revenues. The federally-approved contract even bears the real estate mogul's signature.

“We’re going to have a beautiful love fest,” Trump said when the Trump 29 Casino opened, The Los Angeles reported.

But as Trump headed into bankruptcy in 2004 due to problems with his gaming properties in New Jersey, the tribe became increasingly concerned. At one meeting, members surprised him by wearing t-shirts that read “Donald Trump, you’re fired,” a former top casino executive told The Times.

The tribe ended up cutting Trump loose for $6 million. That was far less than anticipated although he did make money off the casino -- $2.7 million in 2002, $3.2 million in 2003 and $7.5 million in 2004, The Palm Springs Desert Sun reported in March.

"Today, looking at it now, we are here and we are doing it ourselves. Sometimes in business things don’t work out so well," Chairman Darrell Mike told The Desert Sun.

The tribe runs the Spotlight 29 Casino on its own and opened a second facility, the Tortoise Rock Casino, in 2014.

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