After his Atlantic City casino chain rejected his buyout offer and descended into bankruptcy, Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka resigned from the board and he proclaimed that he wanted nothing more to do with the company.

Let the back-tracking begin. The Associated Press reports that Donald Trump is making an offer to acquire the company out of bankruptcy with the backing of Dallas-based Beal Bank. His offer will have to beat out a competing offer made by the bondholders. Since neither offer was publicly filed with the bankruptcy court, it's hard to handicap the Donald's chances.

The Atlantic City casinos have filed for bankruptcy twice in the past five years, and have been unable to compete in the highly competitive market because of a crushing debt load.

Another day, another Donald Trump-related financial crisis.

After years of financial problems, Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) has filed for bankruptcy for the third time in its history. The company's last bankruptcy came in November of 2004.

The company reported assets of less than $50 million and debts of less than $500 million. Nine affiliates of the company also filed for bankruptcy, including Trump Plaza Associates, Trump Marina Associates and Trump Taj Mahal Associate. Including all affiliates, the company said it had consolidated assets of $2.1 billion and debt of $1.7 billion as of December 31st of 2008.

Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) has been squeaking out forbearance agreements with its lender for months to avoid bankruptcy, but that game could finally be coming to an end.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "Bondholders to Trump Entertainment Resorts are planning to force the real-estate mogul's Atlantic City casino group into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy early in the coming week, say several people familiar with the matter."

Just when you thought that Donald Trump could not come up with a new way to spin The Apprentice, he trumps you. That's because last night, Trump fired Trump from his role on the board of Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP). The reason is simple -- Trump Entertainment bondholders are owed $53 million; the Donald stiffed them; and now the bondholders want Trump Entertainment to file for Chapter 11.

The Donald's self-firing is the latest salvo in a lengthy war between himself and his bondholders. A few weeks ago, I posted on the imminent deadline for a resolution of the matter. But Trump bondholders gave him a temporary reprieve until this coming Tuesday. And the Donald has mentally checked out of this mess boasting about how little it means to him -- "Moreover, the company has represented for quite some time substantially less than 1% of my net worth, and my investment in it is worthless to me now," according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Yesterday, Peter Cohan wrote that Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) could be on the brink of its fourth bankruptcy filing since 1991.

Well it won't happen. At least, not until next month. In an 8-K filed with the SEC today, the company disclosed that "On January 21, 2009, the parties to the Noteholder Forbearance amended the Noteholder Forbearance to extend its term until February 4, 2009, unless certain events occur."

In other words, Trump will be back in this very situation in less than two weeks. The company failed to reach any kind of long-term restructuring.

Shareholders chose to notice that rather than the brief reprieve, and the stock has tumbled more than 10% today, to less than 25 cents per share. In 2006 it traded over $20.

Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) disclosed on Friday that it would delay making a $53.1 million interest payment on its senior secured notes due 2015 as it looks to restructure.

The company owns and operates the Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino. The Donald serves as the nonexecutive chairman of the board and his daughter Ivanka is also a director.

The company's results have suffered along with the broader tourism economy, but the Trump properties in Atlantic City have also been hurt by their dated feel and the company's lack of cash that has made necessary updates difficult.

As I wrote back in March, Donald Trump has continued to loot this sinking ship: In 2007 he was paid $2 million for serving as chairman of the board in addition the company's purchases of Donald Trump-branded water and other goodies.

The stock closed at 31 cents per share on Friday.

Shares of Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) are up 17% after the Star Ledger of Newark reported that the Cordish Co., a Baltimore developer looking to get into the casino industry, is looking a buying the company.

Shares of Trump have plummeted in recent months after the company dismissed an offer from Dennis Gomes as too low.

According to The Ledger, "Analysts have long said finding a buyer for Trump Resorts is a long shot. The company carries a heavy debt load -- $1.25 billion plus a $500 million line of credit -- and would be an expensive proposition. A buyer also would have to pay a premium on the price of the company's bonds. And Trump has veto power over the sale of any of the casinos. If he waives that right, the company would have to pay up to $100 million to cover taxes he would owe in a sale."

The huge jump in the stock price is hard to fathom. Merrill Lynch spent months searching for a buyer with little success even as the stock price tanked which, in theory, should have made it a more attractive target.

Trump is bloated and in terrible shape, lacking the funds to revitalize itself. Oh, and Trump Entertainment Resorts is in a similar situation too.

I'll be shocked if anything comes of this latest rumor.

Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) reported a lousy quarter this morning, and the stock has gone up a little bit. The company lost $13.5 million, or 43 cents per share, versus a loss of $4.9 million, or 16 cents per share, in the prior-year period. On average, analysts were expecting a loss of just 25 cents per share. Revenue declined 5%, and missed analysts' expectations but only by $300,000.

Revenue per available room increased 13.3 percent, to $82.51 from $72.85, but that's just about the only silver lining I can see.

Mark Juliano, who became CEO on Thursday had this to say: "While the first half of 2007 has presented many challenges which have impacted our results, primarily new competition and the partial smoking ban, many of the most substantial operational and marketing enhancements we have been planning and implementing for nearly two years are now having a positive effect..."

Apparently Wall Street is willing to give Juliano somewhat of a chance -- at least, they're not going to punish the stock any more than it already has been.

One of Jim Cramer's rules for spotting bottoms is that a stock has bottomed when a company reports a bad quarter and the stock doesn't budge, or even goes up. Trump Entertainment has been pulverized of late, losing two-thirds of its value since June. I still wouldn't touch it, but it may be an interesting contrarian play here.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: TRMP), Donald Trump's casino company, this morning said that following a three-month search, it would conclude its strategic review. Although it has held talks since March with groups of investors that included former Trump Taj Mahal manager Dennis Gomes and Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD), the company said the offers it has received "weren't likely to lead to a transaction."

It seems a little strange that Trump Entertainment couldn't find a buyer, particularly because the market for casinos and their assets is hot. Recent examples of casino sector activity include the in-process $17B acquisition of Harrah's Entertainment Inc (NYSE: HET) and the announced $6.1B acquisition of casino and racetrack operator Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) by Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG), a U.S. hedge fund and private-equity firm.

What gives? Why hasn't Trump found a buyer? Sources have speculated that its casinos, located in Atlantic City, NJ, have been struggling in comparisons to Las Vegas "entertainment destinations," a partial smoking ban and competition from new gaming venues in Pennsylvania and New York. Additionally, the announcement that the company would end its efforts to sell comes weeks after CEO James Perry said he would retire and, effective yesterday, would be replaced by COO Mark Juliano.

Trump's Atlantic City casinos are still working on a $250M project to update its gaming floors and add new restaurants, although it hasn't seemed to help. The company posted losses in earnings per share loss and revenue when it reported Q1 results in May. The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, its largest casino, with 786 rooms, is set to open next summer.

The casino company said that while it was ending the initiative to sell the company, it would continue to review other strategic alternatives, including a cost cutting effort. The company laid off Chief Information Officer Virginia McDowell and executive vice president of design and construction, Paul Keller. It doesn't plan to fill these positions.

Trump shares fell nearly 18% this morning.

Perhaps The Donald should assign some of his interns to price out the value of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMP). It seems, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer, that the company's asking price of $22 a share is double what the prospective buyer is willing to pay.

In an analysis that would deflate the ego of a lesser man, Bear Sterns Cos. Inc. recently placed a fair-market price of $11 on the stock, which is trading modestly above that level. Trump Entertainment Resorts, which owns casinos in Atlantic City, is thought to be very vulnerable to new gambling venues in development in New York and New Jersey. Earlier this month, CEO James Perry was forced out due to his lack of support for the rumored sale to Dennis Gomes and JEMB Realty Corp.

The disconnect between TER's expectations and the market's valuation of the company has a couple of troubling aspects. Given the sweet deal Harrah's Entertainment recently penned with Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, Trump's paltry valuation makes even more obvious its shortcoming. And since the company hired Merrill Lynch to help craft a deal, I have to wonder who is avoiding a reality check here.

Trump Entertainment is in a precarious position to turn down a legitimate offer, but the spread between the two positions could well prove as impenetrable as The Donald's coiffure.

Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) shares soared more than 20% on Friday after the company disclosed that "The Strategic Committee has recently received preliminary and conditional indications of interest from parties proposing to acquire the Company. There can be no assurance that any of these indications of interest will result in a sale of the Company or any other transactions."

Given that the company had already announced that it was for sale and already jumped on that news, the shares may have gotten ahead of themselves today. But the storyline that interests me is this: If the casinos are sold, is it possible that the Trump name will be removed?

With the ratings of The Apprentice continuing to show weakness in the latest season (even after a move to L.A. to spice things up), I would argue that the Trump name may be suffering from overexposure. His huge ego may have finally turned off the public, and his book with Robert Kiyosaki is probably the worst thing I've ever read.

I just wonder whether the Trump name has much value anymore. There's no question that everyone knows it, but what is the average person's impression of Trump?