|
 Christie, a former rival for the Republican nomination for
president, endorsed Trump at a surprise news conference in Fort
Worth, Texas, giving the front-runner a lift ahead of the March 1
Super Tuesday nominating contests.
Christie, a former federal prosecutor, told reporters his
endorsement was not part of any deal that would land him a position,
such as U.S. attorney general, in a possible Trump administration.
Trump, 69, and Christie, 53, have been friendly dinner companions
and have operated professionally in the same state. Christie has
been one of New Jersey's top political figures since 2001 and Trump
has been a major employer and real-estate developer in the state
beginning in the 1980s when he began to run casinos in Atlantic
City, the New Jersey seaside resort that had fallen on hard times
and was being remade as a sort of Las Vegas of the East Coast.
 The close geographic ties differentiate Christie from politicians
who operate farther from Trump's base in New York City, said Ben
Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics
at Rider University.
"They were bound to cross paths and come to know each other,"
Dworkin said.
Trump sat in the front pew at a Catholic Mass celebrating Christie's
swearing-in for his first term as New Jersey's governor in January
2010.
"He's going to be a great governor, which New Jersey could use. He
will go down as the best governor there is," Trump told reporters,
according to the Press of Atlantic City.
Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, a federal appeals court judge,
introduced the two in 2002, according to The Record of Bergen
County. Christie was named the state's chief federal prosecutor in
2001 by President George W. Bush.
The Trumps and the Christies have often had dinner together, where
Trump would do all the talking, according to "American Governor," a
Christie biography written by Matt Katz and published in January.
Christie attended Trump's 2005 wedding, to his current wife,
Melania, where Christie met Bill and Hillary Clinton, according to
the book.
The Christie-Trump relationship, "if anything, would be socializing
with big important people. They're both collectors," said Rutgers
University senior policy fellow Marc Pfeiffer.
[to top of second column] |
As Christie sought to build his national profile, Trump helped.
Trump gave $250,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2014
when Christie was its head, according to the Center for Responsive
Politics, a nonprofit that maintains a database of political
donations.
Representatives of Trump's casinos lobbied Christie as early as 1996
when Christie was a little-own local officeholder in Morris County,
according to the Star-Ledger. The newspaper reported at the time
that the county board of freeholders was considering a highway
project that would affect Trump's casinos in Atlantic City.
Trump founded Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc and ran casinos in
Atlantic City beginning in the 1980s. He resigned as chairman before
the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, about a year
before Christie became governor and took on a larger role in the
city's struggles.
Trump Entertainment Resorts emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization
in July 2010, with Trump acquiring a smaller stake in the company.
It now runs one Atlantic City casino, the Trump Taj Mahal.
Christie's biggest push for development in Atlantic City was to
support the Revel casino project. The Revel opened in 2012, well
after Trump had reduced his holdings in Atlantic City. It closed in
2014.
Trump's presence in New Jersey could extend well beyond his career
or friendship with Christie. According to media reports, he plans to
be buried in the state at a private cemetery at one of his golf
courses after he dies.
(Reporting by David Ingram and Hilary Russ in New York; Additional
reporting by Megan Davies and Jarrett Renshaw in New York and Tom
Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Leslie Adler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
