Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump expressed his support for the government practice of eminent domain, in an appearance on Special Report with Bret Baier, Tuesday, calling its use, "Wonderful."
Eminent domain is the controversial power of the government to force private property owners to sell their land so that a third party, such as the government or a private entity can utilize the property for other projects. Often for the purpose of increasing government revenues.
In the interview with Baier, Trump defended his support for the government's ability to forcibly seize private property, claiming that the practice promoted job creation and economic growth:
"I think eminent domain is wonderful, if you're building a highway and you need to build a highway."
"I think eminent domain for massive projects, for instance you're going to create thousands of jobs and you have somebody that's in the way. And, you pay that person: eminent domain, they get a lot of money," Trump said. "And you need a house in a certain location because you're going to build this massive development that's going to employ thousands of people or you're going to build a factory that without this little house, you can't build the factory. I think eminent domain is fine."
Eminent Domain was ruled constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, in 2005. In the court's decision, four liberal justices were joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, ruling that eminent domain was permissible under the Constitution, while the four conservative justices dissented.
In one of the dissenting opinions, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote:
"Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's interpretation of the Constitution. Though citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not."
Prior to the Kelo decision, Trump failed in several efforts to purchase private property in an effort to expand his Atlantic City casinos. This included one case where he failed to convince an elderly woman to sell her home so that Trump could build a parking lot. Following the Kelo decision Trump told told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto that he agreed with the decision "100%."