State of NJ is trying to revoke Trump National’s liquor license

COLTS NECK — New Jersey is seeking to revoke the liquor license for one of President Donald Trump’s three ritzy golf clubs in the Garden State.

The state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control this week put the Trump National Golf Club in Colts Neck on notice about the charges, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The ABC is seeking to revoke the license based on a fatal accident in 2015 in which a drunk Bergen County man killed his 67-year-old father on Route 18.

Andrew Halder, then 35, had been drinking at the club when he left with his father in his Mini Cooper about 3 p.m. on a Sunday in August. Monmouth County prosecutors said Halder, who was over the legal limit, hit a curb and the car flipped over, ejecting and killing Gary Halder.

Halder pleaded guilty in April 2018 and was sentenced to three years of probation. He was facing up to 10 years if he had been convicted of second-degree vehicular homicide.

The ABC’s notice charges the Trump club with violating its license by service hard liquor from a cart on the golf course and for serving a visibly intoxicated Halder. The usual punishment for those offenses is supposed to be 10 and 15-day suspensions, respectively.

“However due to the aggravating circumstances in this case, the Division will seek revocation of the license based upon the total circumstances,” the letter to the club says.

The club has 30 days to respond to the charges.

New Jersey law allows establishments to be punished or sued for over-serving customers who later injure themselves or others.

The letter is signed by Deputy Attorney General Andrew R. Sapolnick. The state ABC is under the state Office of the Attorney General, which has launched numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration since Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy took office.

The Colts Neck club is not the teetotaling president's favorite in the Garden State. That would be the one in Bedminster, where Trump often spends times away from the White House. He also has a club in Pine Hill, which is branded as Trump National Philadelphia.

Membership dues at Trump clubs run up to tens of thousands of dollars a year. A loss of a liquor license could put a significant dent in a major source of revenue for the president.