Cue the white horse.
Carl Icahn is ready to saddle up and ride in to save the Trump Taj Mahal — under certain circumstances, The Post has learned.
The investor stands ready to pump $100 million into the ailing Atlantic City casino — but only if its unions and Atlantic City make big concessions, sources close to the situation said.
Taj’s owner, Trump Entertainment Resorts, filed for bankruptcy Sept. 9 after years of red ink, and is proposing a restructuring deal that needs the participation of Icahn, the unions and Atlantic City in order to save the 24-year-old Boardwalk casino.
If an agreement is not reached by Oct. 3, Taj executives will tell New Jersey authorities it is planning to close the casino — a move that will result in the loss of more than 4,000 jobs, a source close to the situation said.
“A decision has to be made in the next two weeks,” the source said. The closure would likely come in early November.
Atlantic City has had nothing but bad news this year. It started 2014 with 12 casinos — but now just eight remain.
Trump Entertainment Resorts owns two casinos, and even after shutting the Trump Plaza last week, is projected to lose $7 million a month — not including debt payments to Icahn and property taxes on the Taj it is currently not paying.
The company’s owners — including Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital — are not interested in pumping any more money into the company, sources said.
Avenue Capital in 2009 led a group of hedge funds that bought Trump Entertainment out of bankruptcy, beating a rival offer from Icahn. Donald Trump retained less than a 10 percent stake.
The company wants to stop making health insurance payments of roughly $10,000 a year for each union employee and to halt pension contributions.
Trump Entertainment would prefer that the workers, many of whom are cooks and housekeepers earning less than $30,000 a year, enroll in the Affordable Care Act. If that happens, the company would pay a $2,000 annual penalty per worker for not offering benefits — far less expensive than the present $10,000 cost, the source said.
Union brass question whether the health care and pension cuts will be enough to save the Taj.
Icahn also owns the Tropicana in Atlantic City and several years ago fought the same Unite Here Local 54, winning the right to enroll members in 401(k) plans instead of investing in the underfunded multi-employer pension.
Meanwhile, Trump Entertainment is asking Atlantic City to greatly reduce the $1 billion assessment it presently has placed on Trump Entertainment, resulting in roughly $50 million in annual real estate taxes.
Icahn has agreed that he would exchange his $286 million in debt for equity if the deal comes together.
By gaining ownership of the Taj, Icahn would have leading properties at opposite ends of the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Donald Trump too has publicly expressed interest in saving Trump Entertainment Resorts.
Icahn, Trump Entertainment and Unite Here declined comment.