When the government uses eminent domain to take property, the US Constitution requires that it be for 'public use.' Traditionally, this was interpreted to mean a government-run facility, or at least a regulated public utility like a railroad. And while it's sometimes necessary for government to take private property for a road or post office, the abuse of eminent domain for purely private purposes was - and still is - a serious problem. Trump really did try to take an elderly woman's home in the 1990s to make more room to park limousines next door to his casino in Atlantic City - though the woman ultimately won in court. 'Without it, you wouldn't have roads, you wouldn't have hospitals, you wouldn't have anything.'īush is right about this. 'Eminent domain is an absolute necessity for a country,' he said. Trump denied that he'd taken the property, but he defended the use of the legal power known as eminent domain to take property.
One of the testiest exchanges in last night's Republican presidential debate came when Jeb Bush accused Donald Trump of trying to take the home of an elderly woman to make room for a limousine parking lot in Atlantic City.
