Chris Christie vetoes Trump Taj Mahal casino closure legislation

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed legislation that he claims is unfair to billionaire Carl Icahn’s hopes of reviving Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino.

On Monday, Christie (pictured left) signed 14 bills into law, while vetoing five others, including one passed last December that imposes a five-year gaming license suspension on any casino owner who shut an Atlantic City gaming venue after January 2016.

Icahn (pictured right), who acquired the Taj in 2014 after its previous owners filed for bankruptcy, shuttered the property in October 2016, claiming he saw “no path to profitability” for the casino. The closure followed two years of strife with the property’s unionized workforce, who refused to accept Icahn’s demands to surrender certain health and pension benefits.

Workers accused Icahn of planning to reopen the property with a non-union workforce, prompting legislators to draft and approve their anti-closure bill, which they claimed was designed to encourage owners to keep properties open but also to prevent owners from “sitting on” licenses.