A riddle in New England: A casino, 321 acres of Indian tribal land and a presidential tweet
Source: Washington Post
A riddle in New England: A casino, 321 acres of Indian tribal land and a presidential tweet
By Marc Fisher May 13 at 6:19 PM
Between a boast about bringing jobs to Ohio and a statement of sympathy for victims of a school shooting in Colorado, President Trump last week found time to tweet about an obscure House bill that would assure a Massachusetts Indian tribe control of 321 acres of land it wants to use for a gambling casino.
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But a closer look at House Bill 312 and the favor it would do for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reveals a sprawling network of Trump-related interests, from the National Enquirer to a Rhode Island casino company — a small but strikingly intricate example of the ways this president’s business dealings, personal bonds and political alliances can complicate and color the ordinary doings of government.
On the surface, the matter is a simple dispute over who wants a casino and who doesn’t. The Mashpee Tribe seeks to build a casino in southeastern Massachusetts. If the federal government decreed the land to be the tribe’s sovereign property, the casino would be exempt from many taxes.
But some residents of the town where the casino would be built sued over the project, and after the tribe broke ground, a federal judge sided with the residents, ruling that, because of the history of that parcel of land, the feds didn’t have the authority to guarantee it to the tribe.
So far, no Trump connection. But the tribe’s site is about 18 miles from Rhode Island, and that state’s politicians aren’t keen to have a new competitor go up against their two casinos, both of which are run by Twin River Worldwide Holdings, a public company with strong Trump ties.
Twin River’s president, George Papanier, was a finance executive at the Trump Plaza casino hotel in Atlantic City earlier in his career, and Twin River’s chief marketing officer, Phil Juliano, also lists experience at a Trump casino on his résumé.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-riddle-in-new-england-a-casino-321-acres-of-indian-tribal-land-and-a-presidential-tweet/2019/05/13/dfcc6dd8-7354-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html
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