Atlantic City: 'Trump turned this place into a ghost town'

When Trump won the election, photographer Brian Rose made straight for the gambling town - to show the reality behind his billionaire boasts. The broken city he captured speaks volumes about today's America

When Donald Trump opened the towering Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City in March 1990, he declared it "the eighth wonder of the world" and joined in the celebrations at a launch ceremony filled with portly actors dressed as genies brandishing tacky golden lamps. Even though it was purchased with almost $700m worth of junk bonds - which meant the Taj had to come up with $94m a year just to pay off its debts, and $1m a day to be profitable - Trump insisted the casino would make Atlantic City great again, returning the area to its prohibition-era glory days.

When photographer Brian Rose arrived in the city in 2016, the bankrupt Taj was practically empty. His images of the building's exterior look eerily quiet, as if all its workers had left in a sudden hurry, with what was once a thriving casino now unkempt and surrounded by damaged sand dunes. He photographed a family of stray cats nesting in a spot where gamblers might once have collapsed in a drunken stupor.

The fact that Atlantic City is freezing cold for at least two thirds of the year doesn't help